The Katy Weston Chronicles: Bloody Beginnings
by PrettyLittleHuman
Summary: Katy Weston is a twelve-year-old girl who gets placed in the temporary care of Damon Salvatore. But kids are bad enough for a full grown vampire MAN, but bad goes to terrible when that kid is a sarcastic, rude, can't-leave till she talks to counsel GIRL!
1. Prologue

**A/N: This story is based on the happening of a RPG Forum I made to write this story. Special Thanks to  
>Stefan Salvatore-<strong> DarkHairedAngelSince1995**  
>Damon Salvatore-<strong> I'mFlyingWithoutMyWings**  
>Bonnie Bennett-<strong>14**  
>Caroline Forbes-<strong>14**  
>Katherine Pierce-<strong>Aphroditethatsme**  
>Lexi Branson-<strong>Aphroditethatsme  
><strong>Katy Weston-<strong> PrettyLittleHuman

Prologue

"Katherine if you just talk to us maybe we can help you."

"Okay first of all! It's Katy! Katy Weston! K-A-T-Y-SPACE! Weston, bitch!" The young girl screamed.

"Second, you don't think the police have already asked these stupid questions? Why the hell do you think I got held up there for six freakin' days? So just go take your little notepad and sh-"

"Alright, alright." The man said, trying to keep calm.

"I'll go, Kath-" he stopped when he got a dirty look from the girl, "Katy. But here's my card if you decide you'd like someone to talk to."

He handed her the card with his information on it. Katy had seemed okay to take it, but quickly said.

"I'll save you the trouble of waiting by your phone." She then tore up the card and left the pieces to scatter on the floor of her tiny room. Katy walked over to her bed and picked up one of her books and began reading.

"And a Ph.D. is not a real doctor, genius." She said.

The man shook his head and walked out of the room.

As soon as Katy Weston heard the sound of footsteps go down the stairs, she leapt up and gathered the pieces of the card. She managed to tape most of it back together; when she walked over to her computer and typed the name into the search engine, she found just what she'd been expecting.

Nothing.

"And you clearly aren't even close to qualified." She muttered.

**_A/N: Thanks for reading! Chapter One is coming real soon! Please comment! And if you want to join in with an OC of your own go to the new RPG Forum which this Fic is based on! Link-**.net/forum/Vampire_Gaurdian_101_A_Story_Forum/100825/


	2. I'll Never Tell

**A/N: This story is based on the happening of a RPG Forum I made to write this story. It's set in the early episodes of Season 1. Special Thanks to  
>Stefan Salvatore-<strong> DarkHairedAngelSince1995**  
>Damon Salvatore-<strong> I'mFlyingWithoutMyWings**  
>Elena Gilbert-<strong>It'**  
>Bonnie Bennett-<strong>14**  
>Caroline Forbes-<strong>14**  
>Katherine Pierce-<strong>Aphroditethatsme**  
>Lexi Branson-<strong>Aphroditethatsme  
><strong>Katy Weston-<strong> PrettyLittleHuman

Chapter 1  
>I'll Never Tell… People That WANT To Know Anyway<p>

_Three Months Later_

The name is Katherine Margaret Weston. You must only call me Katy if you expect to stay un-injured.

Let's start with why I'm in an orphanage. My parents smuggled blood to vampires and got killed one night while I was outside the house in the car and heard everything.

Freakin' cheery huh?

Today however, I was being sent to temporarily stay with a Mr. Damon Salvatore in Mystic Falls. They told me that the "doctor" who visited me three months ago said-and I quote- "The poor girl can't get better when she's in this orphanage. She stays inside too much; she'd be much better suited in an environment where she must go outside more."

To clear that weird mesh of wording up; he basically said I'm a loner who stays in her room all day without talking to people, and he's gonna send me to a guy who's a 'respectable member of a small town called Mystic Falls'. According to him, I'll get better from having a sort of family-like environment, and that would help me get used to the idea of getting adopted.

Yeah, from the info he gave us, D. Salvatore is a single ladies-man who lives with his seventeen-year-old brother. Bite me.

Nonetheless, I was going and-apparently-I wasn't coming back till they thought fit.

Yeah right, it's because I wouldn't give them the oh-so-immanent details of my parent's deaths. I wasn't stupid, they knew something about vampires, I may be twelve but I was taught better than that.

So now I was packing up my things from my room at St. Francis Orphanage.

Oddly enough, I'd miss it there. Some sort of sick, twisted, Stockholm syndrome I guess.

More I'd miss my room you'd say. It was on the bottom floor, and was pretty big for an orphan's room. But then again they just gave it to me because it was so dusty and falling apart no one else wanted it, you may say 'Dicken's character much?' but sadly enough the orphanage is rather cramped so it's not like they had a choice… Much.

Besides, I managed to fix it up a bit to be livable. I also kind of liked the run-down look, it made me feel like a rebel (I don't know why, it just did).

It was one room that was about the size of suburban backyard. I had a bed that was small and creaky when you sat on it. A desk that was originally in the corner, but the room was so big and open-looking I moved it to the center trying to make it look more cramped. It didn't work much, but I liked it better there so I left it.

I had an old antique closet-that was chipped all over, but I thought just gave it character-, which they kept down where the room was because it wasn't in good enough shape for selling I suppose.

I'd managed to sort of overstuff it though, basically just throwing my stuff everywhere managed to make it look smaller somehow.

The only thing I wouldn't miss about the place was why I was there. My parents were dead and I couldn't ever see them again. I don't even have family to cushion the blow, not like it would help I guess.

Anyways, I had finally packed my duffle bag with everything I needed, including some vervain and stakes.

Since my parents had such close ties with vampires, I was taught from a young age to protect myself. Not necessarily to fight though, they'd managed to neglect that to the point where it was literally too late to teach me.

Of course I also made sure I had my mom's ring with me or-I guess- _my _ring now.

It was filled with vervain and I hadn't taken it off since they died. I wasn't stupid enough to do that, I mean for all I knew, some vamp enemies they may-or may not- have made were trying to settle a score with an easy target.

I was packed and ready for anything by the time my bus arrived. I'd insisted on going alone, I had no interest in boring and frustratingly awkward chit-chat. That's what family reunions were for.

I'd also been given a letter to give to my new guardian 'explaining the circumstances of my presence'. They seemed almost hesitant to entrust it to me, I guess they feared I'd open it and spoil any and all surprises it contained. I didn't open it though, I just didn't think there was anything in it I didn't already know or guess.

Honestly, it would have been a waste of my time; it was just too dull to think of.

Now was the time I was about to begin my temporary stay with Mr. Salvatore.

Or so I thought.

I walked up to the door of what many chatty people who gave me directions called "The Salvatore Boarding House". I guess they _really _like sounding like the name of a terminator rebellion center… But I have to admit it did look as awesome as it sounded.

I adjusted my bag on my shoulder before knocking on the door.

No one answered, so once again I knocked saying "Anyone home!"

After another minute, instead of a guy like I would have thought, a woman answered the door.

_Oh great, _I thought, _why do I get the feeling every morning will be breakfast with the new one-night-stand of the week?_

She was a tall woman, long blonde ('of course' had been my first thought), tanned skin, and she wore an outfit that had sort of a beat-nick bohemian style to it.

She seemed sort of hesitant to go very far towards the doorway, which peeked some suspicion inside me. But I was generally paranoid, so I kept my edge but didn't immediately whip out a stake and start praying I hit the heart.

"Hi, can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm Katherine Weston, but I prefer Katy. Do you live here?" I asked.

Her eyes seemed to have lit up at the introduction, but she seemed to being trying to regain her original stance. I couldn't tell if she was nervous, or happy, or awkward but something about my name seemed to have sparked something.

"Oh-uh-hi! I-No! My friend lives here-uh-oh hi!" she said turning her attention to behind me.

I turned around to see a girl walking towards us. She had dark hair, dark skin, and she like everyone else in this weird town, looked like she'd stepped out of a magazine. I mean even for me, a person who cares very little about fashion, I felt like I might as well have been wearing rags in comparison with these fashion pages in human form.

God people! What happened to funny T-shirts and ripped jeans?

Well, she walked up to the door and simply said, "Hello, I'm Bonnie."

"I'm Lexi." The blonde woman said, "Can I help you two?"  
>"Um, yeah I was looking for Elena, is she here?" Bonnie asked.<br>"Sorry no, she's not here but I'll let her know you came if she drops in."

Bonnie looked at Lexi seeming to be a bit concerned about something, but she simply nodded and left.  
>After she went off Lexi turned to me and said, "The brothers are out now, but is there any way <em>I <em>could help you?"  
>I shrugged and said, "Well, I guess you could."<p>

I pulled out the letter from before and handed it to her and she took it.

I know what you're thinking: Giving some random woman something that probably contains the mention of vampires in it? Dumb or Just-Plain-Insane?

Well, thing is I didn't care if she thought I-or the Salvatores- were insane or something. It would work in my favor anyway, no one would see them fit to take care of me and I'd be shipped back and avoid all this crap.

My plan didn't seem to work though, she briefly glanced at the letter, folded it up and turned her attention back to me.

"Okay, I don't know how long the boys will be out but-come in anyway." She said, gesturing me in.

I muttered quick thanks and walked inside, silently taking in my surrounding. It was a big open space, which actually made me feel rather uncomfortable, felt like I wouldn't be able to memorize any safety exits or tricks I could use fast enough.

It had actually pretty cool looking furniture though, but I was certain it wasn't comfortable to sleep on. Antique-looking sofa didn't exactly scream 'good-night's sleep' I guess.

"So, did you want to see Damon or Stefan?" Lexi asked me.

I looked over to her and said, "Well, as you know D. Salvatore is gonna be my legal guardian for Doc Brown knows how long." I shrugged and continued simply, "I don't care."

"Oh good-um… They should be back soon, would you like a drink?"  
>"Water would be cool." I replied.<p>

She nodded and went off to the kitchen quickly. While she was gone I opened my duffle-bag and took out a stake putting it in one of my Uggs, and some vervain in the inner pocket of my jean jacket. I closed my bag quickly and sat on the couch, turning my ring on my finger as I waited.

Lexi returned with a glass of water and a soda for herself. She handed me the water and sat on the coffee table opening her can of cola. Hesitantly, I took a small sip, and once I felt safe with drinking the rest I muttered 'thanks' to her.

I took another sip before breaking the silence, "So how do you know the Salvatore Bros?"

"Oh, me and the Salvatores go _way _back!"

I mentally raised a skeptic eyebrow at that sentence. After my experience-however small in comparison with some- I got the idea of "Vampire Inside Jokes", the most common one being the age jokes.

I'd decided to try and test to see if she was a vampire, I just needed to find out how.

"Cool. How do you think they'll react to having a twelve-year-old staying with them?" I asked, honestly curious.

"Well, I think Damon is a huge ass, but Stefan is a very good person." She smiled, "he's the one I'm really friends with."

"Huh, well lucky me, I appear to have gotten the so-called 'ass' as my legal guardian then huh?" I laughed, sipping my water.

I then remember my mom's ring again and thought of how I could test her. I mentally laughed devilishly until she said something else.

"Well, I will always be here if you need anything!" she said reassuringly.

"Thanks." I said, beginning to obviously finger my ring as to draw attention to it. It worked like a freakin' charm cause she instantly said,

"I love your ring!"  
>"Thanks, it was my mom's." I removed the ring from my finger and held it in front of her, "You can try it on if you like. Most everyone does." I said the last part with fake annoyance.<p>

"Oh thanks." She said, confused but accepting. She reached out and took the ring, but the second her fingers touched it, her hand seemed to sizzle and she let out a small cry.

I immediately jumped up, tightly gripping the ring in one hand and grabbing my hidden stake with the other. I backed up towards the door and muttered, "Vampires, of course."

It would only figure I'd get saddled in a town with vampires. Thank you Big Brother, you once again have proven what a dick you are. You steal lunch money, give wedgies, and throw me into a house of what I assume are all vampires…

You are such an asshole.

With vampire speed, Lexi ran over to me, shutting the door behind me and even managing to take my stake. Crap.

"Ok, look I'm not like the ones you know." She said calmly.

I didn't respond, but just put my fists up ready to start fighting.

"Look, I'm not going to fight you! I am not like that and neither is Stefan! We don't drink from people! Stefan doesn't even drink human blood!"

I didn't move an inch but said, "My parents were blood dealers, I've met that excuse ten times over!"

Lexi took a breath and said, "Yes, well this time it's the truth. And I'm truly sorry for what happened to your parents, they were lovely people! But you don't need to be scared of me… Or Stefan. I-We won't harm you!"

I didn't know why, but I actually trusted this woman! I didn't know her, I knew she was a vampire, _and _I'd already threatened her-not very well but still- yet I actually felt safe. Something about her felt familiar, similar to what I felt when I hung around my mom, and yet different at the same time.

I lowered my fists slowly and hesitantly, "You knew my parents?"

"Everyone did!" she said, seeming to contemplate something in her head, "You're very much like them."

"How did you know my parents? Blood?" I said the last part expectantly.  
>"No, I had a different dealer, but I did need to buy some from them when my guy couldn't get me some for my friend, so I did buy some from them."<p>

I believed her, sort of.

I then asked her the dreaded question, "Were you there when they died?"

She seemed reluctant-but not really hesitant- for a minute and simply said, "No." she stopped a second, "But I did know the ones who were there."

I looked up instantly for that one, "Really? Who?"

Lexi looked away from me and said, "I'm very sorry for what you must have been put through. But don't you think it's better to just leave the past in the past?"

She had an almost desperate look in her eye, but I'd simply ignored it and said, "Well, if they have some sort of score to settle with my parents, I wanna know who's coming after me in the future."

That was a lie, I didn't want to know for safety reasons. Deep down, I wanted to kill the son of a bitch who murdered my parents, taking away anything I had and leaving me empty and alone. I wanted to hunt him down and drive a stake through his sick, twisted, murdering heart.

He may have been okay with murdering anyone he wanted, but that was not gonna fly with me, I wasn't gonna lie down and play dead. I'd done that once and it led me here.

She seemed to believe my first statement saying, "Don't worry honey, I-_We _will take care of you, I swear!"

She looked at me and seemed to notice something I didn't quite understand, she sighed and said, "There is so much you don't know about vampires yet, but I promise I will tell you all about it."

I nodded and looked towards a window and replied, "My parents taught me about it when I was four. I slept with a vervain teddy bear till I was eight. Then I slept with a stake under my pillow, still do actually. I recently started learning how to use a gun for wooden bullets."

I smiled sadly at the memories. I placed my ring back on my finger and said, "This was mom's. her vervain filled and coated engagement ring."

Lexi got a saddened look in her eyes, she sighed heavily and said to me, "One thing you _have _to know is that we aren't all the same. Some like me a Stefan are, like normal people!"

"Normal vampires? They never got mentioned growing up."

I repressed the urge to burst into laughter, the idea of 'normal vampires' seemed almost weird to me.

"I see." Lexi said; she tried to sound understanding, but I could tell she seemed hurt by it, "Look honey, if I ever give you a reason to doubt me, go on, stake me!"

She seemed a bit overly confident for my taste, but I also found it just odd that she was so calm, it was almost aggravating.

"I will." I deadpanned, but after a minute I admitted, "As dumb as I'm calling myself in my head, I'll trust you."

She gained the biggest smile I'd ever seen on anyone and said, "Good! I'm very old Katy, so I can teach you the things your parents didn't. These things are gonna help you if you want to get through in this world."

"I'd be grateful if you taught me."  
>"First, I have to know two things: 1.) How much do you know about us and 2.) I know that you trust me, but how well can I trust you about not telling? Because the things I will teach you are not to be told to anyone. Not even my friends the Salvatores!" She said, looking me straight in the eye.<p>

I gave her a slightly offended/disapproving 'really?' look and said, "I know about vervain, abilities, how-to-turn, and various characteristics of your most vicious rippers. And I didn't tell anyone for eight years I know about vampire let alone fighting techniques... You can trust me."

Lexi nodded and said, "Good… Katy, did your parents ever tell you the names of their customers?"  
>I shook my head, "No, something about confidential information. I wish they'd told me."<br>"I'm sorry to say that was a mistake." She muttered to herself, 'They should have told you!' and continued, "You're right, you need to know." 

My interest was definitely peeked at this point and I asked, 'What exactly are you going with this Lexi?"

"I know who killed them."

**_A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Please keep reviewing! Feedback is awesome! And Join the forum! We need people! Keep the story going! Thanks to all who reviewed and special thanks to those on the forum making this story what it is! Look them up and read their stories too!**


	3. JuiceBox With The Devil's Sister

**A/N: This story is based on the happening of a RPG Forum I made to write this story. It's set in the early episodes of Season 1. Special Thanks to  
>Stefan Salvatore-<strong>**DarkHairedAngelSince1995****  
>Damon Salvatore-<strong>**I'mFlyingWithoutMyWings****  
>Elena Gilbert-<strong>**It'****  
>Bonnie Bennett-<strong>**14****  
>Caroline Forbes-<strong>**14****  
>Katherine Pierce-<strong>**Aphroditethatsme****  
>Lexi Branson-<strong>**Aphroditethatsme  
>Matthew "Matt" .<br>Lousia Jay Markham-castingstarlight**  
><strong>Katy Weston-<strong>**PrettyLittleHuman**

Chapter 2  
>Juice Box With The Devil's Sister<p>

"You're sure?"  
>"Yes Katy-"<br>"Where can I find him?" I interrupted.

Lexi's expression became a look of pure fear and horror; I could almost see her regret in telling me.

"I don't know-"she stuttered, I could see she was lying.  
>"Don't give me that crap, you know!" I said, unable to control my anger anymore.<br>"Katy we don't have to talk about this right now." Her eyes moved from side to side, as if actually searching for an excuse to stop this topic, "You look tired! Katy you should-get some sleep!" she ended exasperated.

I shook my head angrily, even now I knew she wouldn't tell me; problem was, that's all I wanted right now-Wait-No! What I _really _wanted? I wanted to drive a stake through the heart of that son of a bitch!

"No, but if you don't want to talk, I'm leaving. "I said, starting towards the doors. Lexi sped in front of them, I rolled my eyes saying, "Relax, if I was gonna run away I wouldn't say it to you. I'm going for a walk; I'm too wired for sleep."

With that I pushed past her and walked out the door. I didn't turn around, but I could practically hear her frustrated sigh from being sunlight intolerant.

I started sprinting after a minute, and then it became a full jog. That's what I always did when I was upset, or frustrated, or stressed, I went running. It always made me feel better to run really fast, and to move freely, and feel the adrenaline rush through my veins. It was just too constricting to sit still; drove my parents crazy.

_*Flashback*_

_I couldn't sleep one night; it was almost three in the morning when I started running. I had run twice around the block until I ran back. When I walked into the tiny house, my parents were waiting for me._

_Mom was a very tall apple-figured woman, with fiery red hair (which she always wore in a braid to hide its thinning), with hawk-like grey eyes. She had an athletic build, and light skin that had a red burnt undertone (I'll never know how but she somehow pulled it off)._

_Dad was a short (about 7 inches shorter then mom) medium-built character, with thick dark curls for hair, and a very pale complexion. He always looked to be ten years younger than he was, and he was in his thirties (seriously, when I saw a picture of my first birthday he looked like he was sixteen, that's wrong), but the spectacles made him look a bit older too as well as pretentious._

_Dad looked a bit more calm and collected, while mom looked absolutely furious! I sheepishly walked up to the table where they sat, ready for the Great American Scolding._

"_Katherine Margaret, this is the last time you go out running at this hour!" she screamed._

"_I'm sorr-" I tried, feeling tears begin to well up. I didn't cry much, but every time I heard my mother's voice like this it just hurt._

"_No you're not! You're sorry you got caught! I understand you have to run but wait till morning! What if a vampire found you while running! Huh?"_

"_Sarah calm down, you don't have to yell at her." My father said._

"_Yes I do! Because she keeps doing this!" mom yelled at him, then turned back to me, "You keep doing this, and you always say sorry! Sorry means you'll never do it again! This is the fourth time this week!"_

_It had actually been the sixteenth time this week, I'd counted; sometimes I managed to go running at night without them waking._

"_I couldn't sleep." _

"_Then stop running! If you keep running it will just keep you awake! Never do this to me again!" she yelled, after that she walked upstairs to their room._

_Dad walked over to me with a sympathetic look on his face. That only made me feel worse, I felt like I was getting between him and mom from just a stupid habit. I felt a tear finally streak down my face._

"_Sweetie, what's wrong? What is making you so upset you have to run?" he asked me like he always did when he caught me doing this._

"_Nothing, nothing's wrong." I would say.  
>"Are you sure? This is becoming an obsession Katy, what's got you so upset?"<br>"Nothing, I just couldn't sleep and was feeling restless. I just needed to move."  
>After that he'd give up, even at this point he knew I either couldn't or wouldn't say anything, "Alright. Is it out of your system now?"<em>

_I nodded, "I think so."  
>"Alright, go back to sleep." <em>

_I nodded again and he hugged me, once the hug was over I'd go upstairs, but not without hearing an "I love you!" from dad and calling back "You too!"_

I shook that memory off, I didn't like to think about my parents in those situations, I preferred to think about the good times to honor their memory; it almost felt like if I didn't only think of the good times, I was disrespecting them.

_*End Of Flashback*_

I continued down the street; slowing my pace to a fast walk made it worse, having the ability to hear my own heartbeat in my ears and adrenaline course roughly through my veins making me want to start running again.

I had been staring at the pavement as I walked, as if it had the secrets of life on it, so I didn't notice as I ran into someone.

"Hi there!"  
>"Sorry, didn't mean to bump into you." I muttered, looking at the woman I bumped into.<p>

She was a fairly average-tall woman (then again I'm twelve and 5'3" everyone looks tall to me), curly dark hair, brown eyes that sort of a tricky look to them that I couldn't really explain then.

She laughed slightly and replied, "No problem! I get lonely anyways; it's nice to meet you, I'm Elena."

I suppressed a weird look, remaining indifferent saying"Cool, I'm Katherine Weston, otherwise known as Katy."

"Katherine?" she said, her tone suggesting some kind of inside joke, "Wow, love the name."

"I personally hate it, hence why I prefer Katy. Live 'round here?"

"Yeah I live close by, what about you? I don't remember seeing you around…"

"I just moved in with the Salvatores."

"The Salvatores? Really?" she said with newly sparked interest, "Tell me, how are they? I'm a _friend _of theirs."

I'd noticed they rather weird way she'd said 'friend', it sounded like she had either just realized she knew them or she was looking for a proper word to replace one that-well-wasn't so proper.

Then again her attitude itself seemed just a tad off; she conveyed a humble and sweet tone that wouldn't have brought anything to mind, except her stance was rather forced and her eyes were weirdly calculating and overly confident as if to say "I'm tasting the cup of victory hours before the drink is even made".

Altogether, these traits told me she was either that uncomfortable in her own skin like a stereotypically teenager, or she was just a bitch in sheep's clothing.

I told her I hadn't met them yet, only two friends of theirs besides her. She got a surprised look in her eye as she replied, "Oh, well that doesn't sound like them not to show. I can tell you little one, they are the real life of the party."

_Whose she calling 'little one'? _I thought to myself, _I may be tiny and rude but I still have feelings! _

I made no attempt to mask my annoyance as I said, "Yeah, I can imagine. How do you know them anyways?"

She seemed to ignore my tone and replied, "Well, me and Stefan go to school together and are dating now; but we go _way _back."

"Ya don't say?" I said rhetorically, "What are they like anyway? I wanna know what to expect."

"Well Damon's a party-boy, but trust me there's a lot more than meets the eye." She gave a little wink on that one-which even for me was unsettling- and continued, "And Stefan, is just the sweetest man you'll ever meet, nobody like him."

"Sounds like polar opposites to me."

"Yeah but that just makes it all the more fun." I then vaguely heard her mutter something like, "You have no idea."

"Sorry, what was that last part?"

"Interesting! They are very interesting."

_I wonder, when the time comes will I be surprised when I wake up at the boarding house and she's already there? Or will I have already expected it to the point it no longer shocks me?_

"Really? What do they do for a living? Or is it the kind of job where you'd have to kill me if I knew?"

"Kill you? No! Not my type of thing to do!" she chuckled at her own private joke, "They just have _A LOT _of spare money so I don't think they need jobs."

"Sponging off inheritance?" I asked while thinking: _Yup, that's a vampire if I ever saw one._

"I guess you could call it that." She looked around herself for a second continuing, "Hey, we've been standing out here for awhile. Wanna go to the Grill for a bit, great place, it'd be my chance to tell you about the boys."

I looked over to where she meant, seeing a place with a sign saying "The Mystic Grill" in the front of it. I saw people going in and out of it so I was happy that there were witnesses.

I shrugged, "I guess so." I said walking in.

"Choose a seat I'll get some drinks." She said as she scurried off to the bar.

I took a booth by a window and watched Elena as she talked to the bartender, listening intently.

"-Bloody Mary and one-" she looked over to me a second, as I simultaneously looked at the polished wood on the table as if it held the secrets of life on it, "One of those fruity, box thing-juiceboxes! With the flowers on them."

It took all my self-control and biting the knuckle of my index finger not to laugh at this woman's attempt at ordering a juicebox.

She came back with the juicebox and cocktail in hand; I took mine and stabbed the straw into the box, what can I say? There is just something irresistible about juiceboxes, they're addictive and friendly, like liquid crack in a tiny little box.

"There you go little one, a nice juicebox for a nice little girl. And wouldn't you know it, he gave us the drinks free of charge! How about that?"

_What's that sound? _I thought, _Oh! It's the sound of my intelligence being insulted within an inch of its life! _

"How about that." I said sarcastically, "Thanks for the juicebox, but don't call me little one-or little girl for that matter. It's just Katy, just four letters and two syllables, it ain't hard to say."

She seemed to take on a whole new persona for a second, and a bitchy one at that, she smirked saying, "Alright."

I tried to repeat my twisting-ring-to-show-it-off technique like earlier, but while I did see her looking at the ring skeptically, she seemed to know better than to ask about it. For a moment though we shared a look that seemed to almost have a mental conversation attached to it.

Something along the lines of:

_You know?_

_Yup._

_And that's your protection._

_Yup._

_You're not scared are you?_

_Nope._

I could see her making some kind of decision mentally, than she swallowed her drink in two gulps and got up.

"I realized, I have to be somewhere to be. Nice meeting you Katy."

With that she walked away and out the door. I watched closely and saw I didn't even see her after the second the door closed. Vampire speed.

I let my mind wander a bit as I finished off my juicebox:

_So let's recap; I live in a house with vampires, I live in a town of vampires, I'm not skilled at self-defense, and I'm pretty sure I'm also in the temporary custody of an asshole vampire._

_Yeah I think it's safe to say my life has gone to shit._

_On the bright side, I got a free juicebox._

**A/N: Thanks for all your wonderful reviews and support! Please keep reading and reviewing, feedback brings chapters faster! If you have any ideas for this story I welcome you all to review or message them to me, or to join the forum on which this story will be based on mostly with all these characters and dialogue. OC's are welcome and can/will be integrated into this story. Link- **.net/forum/Vampire_Gaurdian_101_A_Story_Forum/100825/


	4. Memories & Meetings

**A/N: Okay I'm not gonna post the cast list for the forum anymore because some of the names wouldn't show up and I didn't want anyone to think I was being unfair, so Special thanks to all those on the forum you've been great inspiration to me!**

**I'm gonna start answering reviews so any questions will be answered but spoilers will be kept to a minimum unless through PM.**

**Thanks to all my reviewers and supporters you guys are awesome! **

Chapter 3

Memories & Meetings

I walked back to the Boarding House after I finished my juicebox and found it was empty.

"Anybody home?" I shouted, right after Lexi sped down and was instantly in front of me.

"Still me hon, where did you go?"

"I went running."

"Running?"

"Yeah, I do that when I need to clear my head of whatever crap it produces and makes things crazy." I said walking over to sit on the couch.

"Did you talk to anyone?" Lexi asked, probably expecting me to say I hadn't.

"I ran into a girl named Elena, I think I know the answer to this but is she one of your vamp friends? Cause it's almost insulting to my intelligence if she was covering up."

She went silent for a second, and then said in a confused/shocked tone, "Elena? Stefan's girlfriend? Vampire?"

"Okay Lexi very good, you have chosen three subjects, now add three predicate, and some conjunctions and you have three sentences."

"Katy, enough with the attitude. No, Elena is not a vampire, what made you think that?"

"Not a vampire? You're kidding me, I may be twelve but dude Dracula was less obvious." I said looking behind me to see her expression.

Lexi's eyes steered themselves to the floor, her expression made her look like she was solving a hard math problem in her head without being able to write it down. Then suddenly it seemed to come to her, and from the look on her face it wasn't a happy conclusion.

She sped over and sat on the coffee table in front of me, looking me directly in the eye.

"Katy, I'm gonna tell you something, and you can't tell anyone! You have to promise me!"

"Fine, what is it?"

"Katy I need you to take this seriously!"

"I got it! What's going on?"

Lexi took a breath and looked around for a minute, once she seemed satisfied with her search she continued,

"The girl you met wasn't Elena Gilbert, the girl you met was Katherine Pierce. She's a vampire, and Elena is her look-alike, but Elena is human."

I gave her a weird look but gestured for her to continue.

"Katherine was the shared girlfriend of Stefan and Damon when they were human, she turned them. But they think that she was put in a tomb to die, when really she wasn't-"

"Naw shit Sherlock." I muttered.

"Katy." She said sternly, "Anyway, she's out and apparently is here. I don't know why she's pretending to be Elena but I need you not to tell anyone unless I give the okay."

"Why? If this woman is crazy or something, why not tell the people who can protect the human who may be in danger?"

"Katherine won't kill Elena, and she's not going to come around here, I have actually met her a few times and heard about her. She passes through slick and clean, with no tracks, and she doesn't visit any old boyfriends."

"You can't tell Stefan or Damon especially; they were both under her spell when they met her, and she can make both of them unstable with a flick of a finger. Damon is still not finished with his killing spree and when I found Stefan after she faked her death he was just as bad, and he can't handle going back to that. So unless she's sticking around, which she won't, they can't know or people could get hurt."

I looked at the ground considering this.

"Katy people could die, and Katherine wouldn't have to hurt a fly to make them do it."

I felt torn; on one hand, death was something I was rather touchy about, and never wanted to witness it again. Vampires with ex-girlfriend issues that are lethal to a whole town? No way, I was uneasy about living with two vampires who might just see me as an inconvenience, but living with two guaranteed to be homicidal if this girl talks the wrong way vampires? Knowing this, I would have probably sewn my mouth shut just as a precaution!

Then again, was this really smart? I mean, I'm thinking I don't trust vampires but then what about Lexi? Why am I being so trusting with her?

For some reason, that unanswered question didn't make me trust her any less, but instead I nodded as response to her explanation.

Later on, it got darker so Lexi went out to find Katherine and have a chat. I decided to take a nap on the couch, it took me awhile to get comfortable, I felt like there was just too much space around me… If that makes any sense.

_*Damon's POV*_

I sped inside the house, looking forward to a drink and possibly the chance to annoy both Stefan and Lexi. Instead what I got was a strange child sleeping on my couch.

I looked her over, processing in my head what this kid looked like.

She was a small girl, about thirteen maybe. She had a very boney structure, combined with the translucent pale skin where you could see some of her veins, she looked rather anorexic. She had slightly frizzed curly/wavy (it was hard to tell when it was flailed around the couch) red/brown hair that reached a little below her shoulders.

Deciding to find out what's going on, I woke the little brat saying loudly, "Who are you?"

She woke up and stretched a bit, her round grey/blue eyes alert and ready. She gave me a slightly disinterested look and asked, "You Damon Salvatore?"

"I asked you first, who are you?"

"Katy Margaret Weston, are you Damon Salvatore?" she asked again with an attitude.

_Does she think she's being tough?_ I asked myself, _God, the teen drama is a bore_.

"Yes. What are you doing here?"

She didn't respond and simply reached into a duffle bag on the floor and pulled out a letter. She walked right up to me and gave me the tiny envelope.

I opened up the letter and read it over:

_Damon,_

_I'm sorry to drop this on you but you weren't at the council meeting, and you were voted in for all you've done for this town already._

_We found a link to some vampires around Georgia through Adam and Sarah Weston; we were trying to contact them when they were killed almost five months ago. From what we can tell, they were dealing stolen blood bags from the hospital, and things went wrong. We managed to cover up alright as a drug deal gone awry; it didn't take too much to do that._

_We found Adam and Sarah's daughter Katherine at the scene, seems they took her along for the ride when it happened. She was kept at the police station for awhile to be questioned, but she told them she was in the car when it happened and wouldn't talk about it._

_We tried sending one of the council in as a therapist a few months later, hoping she'd be more willing to talk about it, no such luck. _

_So I pulled some strings and managed to get her into your custody temporarily, so maybe if she gets comfortable with someone on the council she may be okay with talking about it._

_She's twelve years old, and I'm told she prefers Katy to Katherine. You may want to keep an eye on her, she's rather rebellious._

_If you need any help with her, feel free to ask._

_-Liz_

I rolled my eyes crumpling up the letter and tossing it aside. I took another look at Katy, who hadn't moved or changed her expression. She struck me as more annoying then rebellious, but then again she was twelve, and kids weren't exactly my style.

Which was exactly why I was gonna question the kid and send her packing. Of course, I'd have to go slow, she didn't strike me as completely stupid.

"Katherine huh?"

"Katy, it's just Katy." She growled.

I held my hands up in fake surrender replying, "Alright, Katy it is then. So tell me, Katy, why do you think you're here?"

"Cause I got half-way through telling a 'therapist' to shove his notepad up his ass cause that's all the action he'll ever get." She said uncaring.

I raised an eyebrow at that one; I certainly hadn't expected to hear that come from a twelve year old. Well, at least I wouldn't have to give her 'the talk' (but I'd probably pawn that off on Stefan anyway), not like she'd be here that long.

"Really? What made ya say that?"

"Same thing you did, called me Katherine when I told him fifty times earlier it's just Katy."

I shook my head, "Temper, temper, temper. You've got some spunk in ya kid, you'll have fun around here."

"And how long will that be?" she asked annoyed, it was probably more to herself then me but nevertheless I answered.

"I don't know. But don't get comfy here kid, you're gonna be gone as soon as I have a chat with Sheriff Forbes."

"Fine by me!" she said, almost relieved.

After a moment or two of silence she broke it.

"So how old are you anyway?"

"Twenty-four."

She seemed to snort at some kind of inside joke and replied, "How about in vampire years?"

_*Katy's POV*_

"Vampire years?" he laughed, "Reading too much Twilight I see."

"Cut the crap, I know about vampires, and your friends told me you were when I figured it out." I said.

Suddenly he sped in front of me asking simply, "Which friends?"

"Lexi."

"Ah Lexi, she doesn't like me very much."

"I wonder why." I muttered, "You didn't answer my question."

He took a moment and said, "I'm one hundred and seventy-two."

"Damn grandpa you are old."

He placed a hand over his heart dramatically as he replied, "You've barely known me a few minutes and you insist on wounding me so."

"Build a bridge and get over it."

Damon responded with a raised eyebrow and shook his head. I went over to the couch and slumped down; he mirrored my movements and sat down on the other side. We sat there for a few moments just staring at each other; I couldn't tell if it was because one or both of us were nervous, or if we just didn't know what to make of the situation.

"I'm aware I'm a dazzling sight, but it's really creepy to be gazed at by a ten year old."

I rolled my eyes, "I'm twelve! And I'm just waiting for a response; you're the one acting like a pedophile."

"You shouldn't say things like that to your betters."

"Don't you mean my elders?"

"No, because my sentence is far more accurate than yours." He smirked, "Alright, I'm bored of you, why don't you go to your room or something."

"What room?" I asked.

He took another moment to think, "Lexi didn't show you a place to sleep?"

"No she did, I just prefer dusty antique couches for sleep." I said sarcastically.

Now it was his turn to roll his eyes, "Alright, alright, there's a spare room upstairs down the hallway on the right, last door on the left."

"Thanks." I grabbed my duffle-bag and started towards the stairs.

"Oh, and if you see anything labeled 'Stefan' in there feel free to take your teen angst out on it!" he called after me as I walked up the stairs.

"Gotcha! Anything labeled 'Damon' smash to bits!" I called back before I disappeared into the upstairs hallway.

I went down the hallway slowly so I wouldn't get lost and God forbid find a closet with a dead body in it (then again, I live with vampires now, do I still have the ability to be surprised anymore?).

I found the room he was talking about; it was a medium sized room, filled top to bottom with old books, paintings, and broken furniture. There were a few objects that seemed in good condition, like the nightstand, bed and a built in closet.

I threw my duffle-bag into the closet carelessly, noticing dusty old clothes hung up in there neatly. I sat down on the bed at the back of the room; it was a single bed, with thin worn out pink (_that'll have to go, _I thought) covers, and was placed right under the only window in the room.

I gathered my courage and lied down on the bed, which luckily didn't puff out dust like I'd expected, and contemplated some more.

_Well, sure he's an ass but at least he's not gonna pressure me into talking about it, or talking at all for that matter. _I shrugged as I continued my thoughts, _and I have accomplished the task of finding out my parent's killer's name. That's step one at least…_

"Klaus." I said aloud.


	5. Chase The Morning

**If my readers know where the title is from review and you get 100 awesome points because it's Legend-wait for it… Dary! :P**

Chapter 4

Chase The Morning

_*Third Person POV*_

Sherriff Forbes had been working non-stop at the office for hours, her mind clouded with several different worries from "How many vampire threats were among them?" all the way to "Has Caroline tried to sneak someone over while I'm at work?"

She grabbed her office phone on the first ring, "Yeah? Send him in."

With that she put down the phone and awaited her visitor. The next moment, Damon Salvatore entered the room, holding a package in his hand.

"Mr. Salvatore, come on in-uh, could you get the door for me?"

He pivoted back to the task once accepting with a quick, 'sure'.

"I understand from Mrs. Lockwood that your uncle is out of town." She questioned.

"Yes, he is. But I spoke with Zach, and he filled me in, and asked if I could bring this to you." He referred to the package.

Sherriff took the package from his hands, carefully as if almost nervous about what could have been inside. She opened it up, pulling out a handful of purple-flowered stalks.

"Vervain?"

"That's all we have at the moment, I hope it's enough." Damon replied.

She took a moment to pause, seeming to inwardly console different concerns so she could proceed with the conversation.

"It's a small circle. Founding families, a few city officials-"

"And your deputies of course, right?" he asked, taking a seat, "Are we any closer?"

Sherriff shook her head slightly, "I think our facts are wrong; we've always thought that vampires can only come out in the dark, but what if that's changed?"

Damon turned his face into a false-look of confusion and shock, "Is that even possible?"

"We've exhausted every other option. We _have _to consider the vampire may be walking around in the day, right in front of us."

They sat in silence for a minute or two, both pondering different aspects of the situation. The Sherriff's thoughts on hunting the perhaps not-so-nightly-hunter and Damon's on how to keep his prey of choice running blind.

His thoughts almost began to go through his façade, and when realizing such he retreated back to it. He let out a hum of interest (and underlined amusement) before asking, "So what's the next step?"

"We're now looking at anyone new to town since the deaths began, should turn up a suspect or two."

"And I of course, will do anything I can to help." He replied with sympathy, adding a one-sided smile to soften it up.

"Thank you." Sherriff said, "Oh, I almost forgot, did Katy arrive yet?"

"Yes, she did. And that's another reason why I wanted to speak with you."

She nodded her head, "You wanted to see if someone else could take her off your hands?"

The answer would have yes, if Damon hadn't thought the situation was too delicate to be that frank. So he quickly rearranged some words and reasons in his head and presented his newly changed thoughts.

"No, but I am wondering why I was chosen for this; after all, you being a mom and all would give you enough reason by itself, but being Sherriff as well is a whole other reason why you're a terrific option."

Sherriff Forbes paused, briefly considering his argument and putting together her own as well, "I'm treading on thin ice with my superiors, with this favor. It would put me in risk of losing my position if I get too involved right now. I asked Mayor Lockwood, but he's having trouble with Tyler and work, and besides Carol told me she couldn't handle another kid right now."

Damon was getting more annoyed by the second at the possibility of having to put up with Katy for longer than he anticipated.

"And, how do you know she even knows anything about vampires? I mean, isn't possible she really doesn't know anything?"

She took a breath and explained, "I thought so too, that is, until a friend from the station in Georgia told me about the incident after Katy got there."

Damon became truly interested in this new piece of information and gestured for her to continue.

"After Katy was questioned, they were gonna let her sleep there for the night until they could contact an orphanage. She had left to go to the bathroom when someone called in about her, saying they were a family friend, coming to pick her up. He came in, asking for her, answered few questions as possible. But when they went looking for Katy she wasn't there. Thinking she'd run off, they called stations about a runaway, and the man who came in for her left after hearing the news. The next day he returned to check and see if they had any luck, none. But on the third day, they found her, or rather she came back."

"Where had she gone?"

"She had never left the station. She overheard something about the man coming to get her and she hid in the air vents all that time. She'd sneak out during the late hours of the night and take tiny portions of food from a mini-fridge. She explained that she didn't know any family friends and demanded that she be taken to an orphanage that very night."

Damon smirked slightly, amused by how demanding the kid sounded.

"She made such a fuss they took her there without contacting the orphanage first, and that's when my link called me."

He nodded in understanding as she continued, "She knows something, I don't know what it is but she does. And I need you to find out for me."

Damon paused for a moment to hide his ever-growing annoyance with the child, but managed to simply smile and say, "Of course."

_*Katy's POV*_

Lexi came into the room awhile later when it became dark, "Hey there! How did you sleep?"

"Good, how was your-ah-trip?" I said, remembering vampire hearing.

"It's okay, they're not home, vampire hearing goes both ways you know." She laughed, "Katherine isn't staying, I made sure of it."

"Good, I've had my fill of wacky vampires, no offense." She laughed again, then I continued, "Lexi, you never told me how you knew my parents. So, what happened?"

Lexi took a moment to inhale, she looked almost sad, "We were best friends at first..."

"Then how come I've never met you before?" I interrupted.

She smiled at me slightly, "We have, you just don't remember, you were only a baby."

My eyes widened in shock, I wasn't expecting to hear this. "Ba-You-What? How?"

Lexi looked to the ground with a torn look on her face, "Katy, I was-am, your Godmother."

I couldn't speak, let alone breathe in that second. That word just ran through my head over and over, _Godmother_.

_No, _I thought, _It's not possible! _

"What happened? How? Tell me!" I said in a weak voice.

Lexi's eyes turned back to me, and I could almost see old events unfolding in them, "Your mom and dad were getting used to their-business. Some idiot vamp with no control kept demanding more than they could stock, and started threatening them. Your mom was almost eight months along with you at the time, and she stressed herself out so much, she went into early delivery." She paused, as if waiting for me to comment or respond to something, I said nothing and she went on, "We got you both to the hospital in time; but you were so little, they got Adam to agree to giving you vaccinations to strengthen you, but right after you got really sick. We thought at first it was because you were so small, but your mother told us later how she's chemically sensitive, and so it turned out you inherited her inability to take chemicals. Immediately, they had you put into this kind of surgery, to clear out the chemicals. It did its job, but your tiny body couldn't handle the after affect."

She got a saddened look in her eye, almost as if she were about to cry.

"We thought you were going to die."

I used to think my parents never kept a secret from me, at least anything important, that knowledge was one of the few things I had a steady foothold in. Right now, I felt like the world shifted really quickly and I was staggering about.

I almost felt tempted to cry myself; I bit my lip for a moment to keep a strangled croak from escaping, once the feeling passed I asked her, "But I'm here, I'm fine now." My voice dropped to a more angry tone, "Lexi, what happened?"

She seemed to pull herself together as well and replied, "They asked me to give you some of my blood, to heal you. I agreed, of course, and you got better." She took yet another pause, but it certainly wasn't unfounded, "Your mother was being patched up herself, she bled a lot, so she couldn't be with you at the time. I offered her some blood too, but she just asked me to focus on you. I stayed with you through nights, compelled the doctors to let me stay, and gave you blood when you needed it, and made sure they didn't try the vaccinations again… Mothers are supposed to bond with their kids when they're born, but she couldn't and-" She looked at me intently, "I did."

I once again bit my lip to keep from letting out a cry, but this time I didn't succeed. Instead I let out a strangled breath and felt tears rush to my eyes.

"You… What?"

"I'm sorry; I was just trying to help my friend. But when you and your mom got home, I began hanging around more often- she put two and two together after a while, and she was so angry she told me to leave and never come back. I left, and waited a few weeks for her to cool down, but when I went back you all had packed up and left."

I sat there silent for a few minutes, or maybe longer I don't remember. I felt like I had hundreds of memories whispering in my ear back to back, contradicting and agreeing at the same time, all debating for my main attention.

"_Katy, friends are important to keep close, because when life strips you bare, they'll cover you." Mom once said._

And yet she kicked out her best friend…

"_No one can replace your family." She told me._

But Lexi tried…

If I felt like the world shook too quickly before, that was an understatement now. Right now, I felt like it was rolling out from underneath me, making me lose balance quicker each second.

I pursed my lips together to stop them from trembling; I couldn't take this, not now, I couldn't handle it. In a second I ran straight out of the room and right for the room across the hall, which I soon discovered was a bathroom.

I locked the door behind me and sunk down in front of it as I heard Lexi knock on the door gently.

"Katy, please come out. Please talk to me."

I didn't answer, which made her continue to repeat herself until she finally gave up. I myself had curled up in the bath tub, holding my knees to my chest to lessen my shaking. I wanted to cry, of all the things I could have asked for, what I wanted more than anything right then was to cry my eyes out and scream out any pain I was feeling. But I couldn't, I just couldn't…

And if wasn't for lack of reason, definitely wasn't because of physical disablement; I held my breath for long periods of time to keep from crying, and when a stray tear fell, I roughly wiped it away quickly.

No matter how much I wanted to, no matter how much my eyes and heart begged me to, I just couldn't cry.

_*Third Person's POV*_

Lexi had given up after a few minutes, deciding that any attempts to chat right now were futile.

"Having a tantrum is she?" The newly arrived Damon asked from behind her.

"Shut up, Damon."

"Have you tried offering milk and cookies? That's always a hit."

Lexi sped up to him and grasped his throat like she had earlier that day, "Listen up, I told you before not to ruin my weekend with Stefan and I meant it. But if you think you get a free pass by making fun of Katy guess again. So little tip Damon, don't mess with my best friend or my Goddaughter and you'll survive, got it?"

"Yup." He croaked.

"Good." She let him go and sat beside the door to the bathroom, hoping the kid would come out soon.

_*Katy's POV*_

I managed to calm down after a while, and I began to look at the door in front of me.

I knew I'd have to face her sometime, I'd have to face everyone sometime, but I just didn't want to. So I looked around me, and saw a window at one end of the bathroom (_rather inconvenient for a bathroom, _I thought)_. _I looked out through it to see a huge oak tree with long thick branches right outside, I opened the window and crawled through just enough so I was sitting on the bottom of it. I grabbed a branch nearby and swiftly pulled myself onto the thick branch, stomach down.

At first I looked down and behind me to see how to get down, and at first it felt like I was screwed, but then I began to slowly shimmy down the branch towards the base. Once I got to the point where I could freely climb down, I sighed and continued my escape, only to find that I hang drop a good six feet before I could go anywhere. Though, I did manage it, I'll never attempt that again for fear my back would hurt even worse.

I wandered through town for a while, no one appeared to be out at this time, and that suited me just fine. I know it's stupid and pretty bad-horror-genre-like but I could have cared less at that moment. What I did care about was that my back began throbbing again, causing me to have to sit down on a park bench.

As I sat there resting, I saw one of the people I wanted to see least walk up to me.

"Hi there." Lexi said, "I know I'm the last person you want to see right now but-"

"You can't replace my mom." I said harshly.

Surprisingly she didn't look that offended then, she mostly looked hurt by my statement, "Look I never tried to replace your mom…" she stopped revaluating her words, "Alright, fine, I tried. I tried to take a mothering role in your life, and I'm sorry, but maybe we both need each other more then you realize. You weren't the only one that lost them."

"You hadn't seen them in twelve years, what could you have lost?" I yelled angrily.

She stopped a moment, her eyes glistening with fresh tears, "I lost time with my best friend. I lost time babysitting you when she wanted to spend time with your father like we'd originally planned. And I realized that, when this morning you walked up to the house, almost a teenager and handed me a letter that told me I lost one of my best friends forever. I forever lost the chance to apologize to her. Yet, I will forever have the memory her last words to me, which was an angry 'never come back'. And you may never fully understand this Katy, but for a vampire, forever is a very long time."

And with that she sped off. Leaving me with my thoughts about… Well, everything.


	6. Stay With Me

Chapter 5

Stay With Me

I knew I was harsh, hell, harsh was putting it nicely.

I shouldn't have said those things to Lexi, but the awful thing was I meant them, or at least I did at the time. Not anymore though, I didn't mean one word, but I wasn't gonna admit it.

I sat there for God only knows how long, until I had had enough and stormed away from the area. I went down one of the alleys to make a short cut, when I heard something behind me.

I didn't think much of it and quickened my pace up the alley.

I continued to walk down the alley until I heard the noise again. I had a good idea what is was and rolled my eyes at the thought, "Three guesses the first two don't count. Katherine."

And sure enough, after a moment or two Katherine appeared right in front of me, smirking so much I wanted to punch her really hard in the face (in fact, I sometimes wonder why I didn't).

"You're getting good at this game." She laughed.

I scowled and said, "I hated my name before, but you officially ruined it."

She smiled proudly, "I think it just gets better and better." She paused a moment, "How did you know it was me and not Elena?"

"Well, I may not know her but I'm pretty sure Elena doesn't lurk in alleys. And another thing is you were so suspicious last meeting I sort of figured." I shrugged.

"Hm, I see. Well, doesn't matter, I have a long trip out of town and I could use a quick drink." She threatened, her eyes becoming veiny.

Immediately, I grabbed a pipe from the alley and held it up, ready to defend myself. It wasn't a particularly good weapon against a vampire, but hey, it was a weapon and that was all I needed to know.

"Don't even think about it bitch."

She looked at the pipe and laughed, showing her now fully grown fangs, "You think you can fight me with a pipe? That's not going to do you any good, you stupid child."

"Yeah you've got a point there." I said, placing my hand in my pocket and grinding up the vervain I had placed inside earlier, "But this will!"

As I said that, I took the vervain out of my pocket and threw the grinded up dust at her. Some of it hit her and she began hissing in pain, which gave me an opening to flee. I ran down the alley and went straight for the nearest house I could find, knocking quickly as I looked around me.

After a minute or two the door opened to reveal, God I wasn't expecting this, Damon.

"Ah!" I jumped slightly, "Are you just gonna be everywhere I turn?"

"Hey ever think maybe it's you whose everywhere I turn?" he replied.

"Fine, it's a tautology."

"Who are you?" I looked behind him to see-well, what I at first thought was Katherine, than remembered the duplicate human thing. I also decided that no matter how fast Katherine was, she probably wouldn't be able to straighten her hair and change in all of ten mille-seconds.

I took a moment to keep myself from shouting "CRAZY ANGRY BITCH ON THE LOOSE!" and replied, "Katy, the current stain on Damon Salvatore's life."

"What?" she asked, clearly confused by the situation.

Damon rolled his eyes, "She's in my custody for a while, the poor little orphan girl." He said in a mocking voice that made me want to vomit.

"Wait," Elena said, processing the info, "you are given custody of a child? Are you crazy?"

"Sing it sister." I muttered.

"Why, what's the big deal?" he said, earning an 'Are you nuts?' look from me, "I'm just doing what St. Stefan's always telling me to do. And that would be to do something good for someone else."

Towards the end, he used the top of my head as an arm-rest, and began playing with some of my stray hairs; honestly, I couldn't decide whether it was disturbing or insulting, probably both.

"Yeah, whatever; yo, Fanzie's latest fashion victim, I need a ride back to the house." I said.

"Ah, ah, ah what's the magic word?" he said, pointing an accusing finger in my face.

"If you don't get that finger out of my face right now I'll show you a very special one?"

He smirked at me, wisely retracting his hand from my personal bubble, and turned to Elena.

"Well, parenthood calls, gotta get this little one to bed." He mocked, insulting me (if possible) more by putting his hands on my shoulders and smiling like a parent.

"God I hate you." I said, "Now let's go, I've had enough of the tension between you love birds."

Both of them looked rather taken aback, well Damon looked more smug than taken aback, and Elena broke the silence asking, "There's nothing between us, what made you say that?"

I rolled my eyes and replied, "Oh for God sakes, if it were any more obvious there'd be a musical number!"

With that I walked back onto the porch, but not before hearing a rather amusing free-comedy from the Tension Duo.

"She's at that age, suffered a tragic loss." Damon said, even though clearly his voice stated he couldn't give a damn.

"She needs somebody to care right now Damon."  
>Just when I was about to roll my eyes, I heard the comedy begin, "You're right, you're absolutely right Elena. She needs a family, and right now I'm basically a father to her."<p>

Okay, at those last words I kept repeating the phrase 'I'm screwed' in my head.

"Yeah, you are, and that's why you need to quit your self-serving psychopath ways and actually care about someone for once."

"Well, Elena, I think what she needs is someone to look up to. Someone who understands what it's like to lose your parents."

"Wow Damon, that actually sounded like you care." She said surprised.

"And seeing as you are obviously better advice then Emo-Teen, you'd be the perfect candidate for the mother-figure role to my father-figure role."

I heard Elena let out a humorless laugh saying, "Very funny, now go."

"You know, since we'll be-for all intents and purposes-married for however long she'll be around, I think maybe we should discuss living arrangements. Like where we _both _sleep-"

"Out." She stated, opening the door.

Damon stepped outside, closing the door as he said, "Bye honey."

After he closed the door he turned to me, "You're gonna start using me as a pick-up line aren't you?" I asked.

He smirked, "Don't need you for that kid. Come on, get in the car." He gestured to the blue car in front of the house. I was about to sit in the front when I heard a disapproving 'tsk tsk tsk' from behind me.

"Uh uh, back seat girlie."

"Who are you calling girlie?" I said, offended.

"You. Now back seat."

I rolled my eyes and went to the back seat, sitting with my arms folded. Damon got in the car and looked at me in the rear-view mirror.

"Aw, don't look so down. If you're good I'll give you a cookie when we get home."

"Oh a cookie! Well, that changes _everything!" _I said dramatically, than reverted back to my scowl.

"You know, if you keep making that face it'll freeze that way."

"Clearly you don't practice what you preach."

That's about all we said for the rest of the car ride.

Once we actually got to our destination, I looked at the house nervously; I had only just now remembered Lexi would be there, oops.

"Well, you're back. Go on." Damon said to me.

"Is Lexi still in there?" I asked him.

"How would I know?" He smirked.

I gave him a look as if to say 'I'm not stupid' and replied, "Can you hear her in there?"

"Aw, are you avoiding her?"  
>"If you must know, yes."<br>"Why's that?"  
>"I don't want to talk about it."<br>"Well, hey I think I can help."

"What are you my therapist now?" I muttered.

"You don't want to be here, am I right?"

"Gee, what brought you to that stunning conclusion?"

He rolled his eyes, "Shut up and listen. In order to get you back to Miss Hannigan so you can go find your Daddy Warbucks or whatever, I need you to tell me what happened that fateful night when you lost your beloved mommy and daddy."

I turned to him with a look of sheer anger on my face, "No!"

"You're gonna have to tell me sometime, or else we're gonna be roomies for God knows how long." He said, unphased by my outburst.

"I don't want to talk about it!" I yelled.

"You don't want to talk about a lot of things, but you know what? I don't want you here anymore then you want to be here, so tell me right now or if you thought I was unpleasant to live with before, you can't imagine how much you'll hate me in a few days."

"I already hate you after a few hours!" and I reached over with the hand I grinded up the vervain with and touched it to his face, making him growl in pain. Immediately after I ran from the car and went inside, knowing whether Lexi was in there or not.

When I entered the house I saw she wasn't there, nobody was. So I just ran upstairs to my room and slammed the door behind me, taking off my jacket and slumping down on the bed once I had.

Suddenly the door opened to reveal an angry looking Damon; I looked at him, clenching my jaw tightly in anger.

Instead of saying anything, he marched right over to the closet and pulled out my duffle bag. He zipped it open and pulled out all my stakes and (using his jacket to protect his hands) took all the vervain I had in there. He sped away with the objects, and within seconds returned again empty handed.

I continued to look at him without saying a word, but my face was shouting every swear word in the book.

He took a seething breath and said, "If you ever try that again, I'm not going to let you off the hook next time. Luckily for you, I'm feeling rather charitable, so you get one free pass. Now when I leave this room, I am going to lock the door and you will go to sleep. I'll let you out in the morning."

Then he stomped off through the door and slammed it shut, afterwards I heard the distinct sound of a lock and groaned in aggravation.

After a minute or two of screaming into a pillow, I changed into my PJ's and begrudgingly went to sleep, though it took a while.

_*Third Peron's POV*_

Damon sat by the fireplace, throwing in Katy's vervain and stakes in one by one, until he heard his cell phone ring.

He picked it up just before the third ring, "Hello?"

"Damon, its Sherriff Forbes. I got a call from one of my deputies saying they saw Katy running through the streets tonight."

Damon sighed heavily before replying, "Yeah that was her. But don't worry I got her back here, she went out earlier today and didn't tell me. I went looking for her and got her home, but she's upset and won't talk. Sherriff, I hate to be an inconvenience but I don't know if I'm the guy for the job."

He spread his words smoothly and laced them with fake remorse; he figured if he could just get the Sherriff to think Katy wouldn't attach herself to him he could get rid of her, and still keep a certain trust with the Sherriff.

"Look Damon, I'm sorry but I can't move her right now, at this point she's the most information we have. The basic time we have is about four months, that's all no more no less, and once the due date has past she's gone whether or not she says anything. I just need you to try Damon, please."

He took a breath to hold back an argument and replied, "Alright, I'll do what I can."

"Good." She said, "Listen, I spoke with the student counselor at the local elementary school, and she's willing to speak with Katy before she's enrolled. I can set-up a meeting for tomorrow morning if you want?"

"She'll be there. Thank you Sherriff."

"Bye Damon." And hung up.

After the conversation, Damon noticed he had gotten down to the last stake of Katy's stash. But instead of burning it, he looked at it for a moment with a contemplating smile.

_*Katy's POV*_

I tossed and turned when light hit my face from the window, I had barely slept all night and I wasn't ready for daytime just yet. I threw my blankets over my head and for the fifteenth time since last night attempted sleep.

Unfortunately, I would soon learn my asshole of a guardian was a firm believer in 'the early bird catches the worm'.

I heard the door of my room unlocking from behind me, followed by an annoyingly chipper Damon, "Rise and shine girlie."

"No, go die." I murmured into my pillow.

"Already did that, now up you have a session with a therapist, and I'd say you've been put on the waiting list long enough."

That got my attention right away as I groggily sat up, "Wait a sec, you signed me up for therapy sessions?"

"Well technically Sherriff Forbes did, but I agreed because I feel that since I'll be your parent for the next four months, I should take on a responsibility for you." After a minute or two he burst into laughter, "Come on get up, you don't want to be late!" he ended as he walked out the door.

I face-palmed as I said, "Oh this just keeps getting better and better doesn't it."

***One hour later***

Damon and I hadn't spoken throughout the entire car ride, and when we reached the school counselor's office, we were placed in the waiting room for almost forty-five minutes (again without a word).

"You know, I'm still waiting for that apology for burning my face last night." He said.

"I wouldn't hold your breath on that if I were you." I said, twirling mom's ring around my thumb.

Then out of nowhere, Damon reaches for the ring and grabs it (clearly in pain, but ignoring it all the same) and put it in his jacket pocket.

"Hey give that back!" I hissed, trying to keep my voice low so the secretary wouldn't hear, "What are you gonna compel me to apologze?"

"No, but consider this my form of punishment."

My voice dropped to a desperate tone, "Please give it back. It was my mom's, I can't lose that ring!"

He looked at me without any remorse on his face, only triumph and said, "You should have thought of that before misbehaving."

I reached over to try and take it from the jacket pocket, but he grabbed my hands and looked me in the eye.

"You will get the ring back when I say so, and when you go to your session with the counselor you will not say anything about vampires in Mystic Falls, and nothing about our little exchange right now. Understand?" He compelled.

"I understand." I answered robotically.

He smirked, "Good." And let go of my hands.

I folded my arms as I waited to be called in, my lip quivering slightly in anger about the situation.

I was never very fond about the idea of therapists; they were always just trying to _fix _people. Which, yes _sounds_ okay at first, but here is the difference between _fixing _and _healing_: Fixing implies tinkering, and replacing parts, and polishing, and tuning so that the object is more convenient for the owner. Healing implies growth of inner peace with oneself and naturally keeping away anything harmful to the psychological mind.

What I basically mean is, I want to be _healed _not _fixed_-God that didn't sound right.

After a minute more, the counselor came outside and looked at us smiling. She was a tall woman, short black curls for hair, with fair skin and brown eyes. She had small black-rimmed glasses hanging off the edge of her nose, was wearing an off-white peasant blouse, and some beige capri-pants to match her wicker-like heels.

"Hi, I'm Marianne Lark, you must be Damon Salvatore and Katherine Weston then?"

"Katy Weston." I said, only an inch of self-control away from having growled my own name.

She smiled, "Alright, Katy it is then. Come on in, sweetie."

I raised an eyebrow slightly, but went towards the room anyways, turning my head quickly back to Damon for a second as I did so.

Ms. Lark turned to him too asking him about whether he wanted to join the first session or not. I huffed at that and heard him tell her he wasn't going to be joining just as I expected. After clearing up when he had to come back to get me, he left the office and headed for the parking lot, as I took a good look at the room around me.

It wasn't much…

It had a bookshelf that was half empty, a desk with boring papers on it, a sofa in front of the desk, and a mini-fridge with a coffee maker placed on top in a corner.

I took a seat on the sofa and waited a bit before Ms. Lark came back and sat at the desk in front of me.

"Well, Katy, how do you like Mystic Falls so far?"

I took a second to think about which four-letter word to describe this psych-ward passing as a town. I ended up with replying, "Dull."

"Really? I think it's rather unique."

_Lady you wouldn't be half wrong on that one, _I thought.

"I haven't been here long enough to make an informed decision." _Yes I have, _I contradicted in my head.

She nodded and turned to her papers, pushing up her slipping glasses.

"I'm sorry for your loss Katy, it hurts to lose someone close to you." She said sympathetically.

"Understatement of the freakin' century, but yeah." I muttered.

She took a breath and replied, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Okay. But you know Katy, I've found with a lot of kids your age, it helps to get it out."

_A lot of kids my age don't have to be right outside when their parents die agonizing deaths, heck, a lot of kids my age don't lose their parents to begin with!_

"Well, I don't want to talk about my mom and dad's demise, thank you."

"What about after?" she asked, rendering me confused.

"What?"

"What about after they died. When you went to the police station, how did you feel?" she asked.

"How do you think I felt?" I hissed at her.

"I don't know, I can't imagine how it must have felt. Why don't you enlighten me? Tell me about it, and maybe I can understand."

I hesitated. I didn't quite expect her to ask me about after; during of course, how I felt right now maybe, but I hadn't really thought about after. Though as less emotional then the actual death was, I briefly remembered the awful moments in the vent, hiding from yet another vampire.

But I figured I might as well buck up and say something relatively emotional so I could get out of here.

"After I was questioned, I was told that I was gonna be staying there for the night, then they could drop me off at an orphanage nearby. They had a couch I was gonna sleep on; they had some blankets in the janitor's closet. I went to the bathroom that was right next to there, and before I came out I heard them talk about a 'friend' of my parents coming to get me."

"I freaked, I didn't know anybody by the short description, and I didn't like the sound of it. Once the other cops I overheard left, I rushed to the janitor's closet and hid. I tried to think of something, a hiding place, and then I saw the vent and I decided it was perfect to hide in just for a day or two."

"I grabbed a blanket from one of the cupboards and crawled through a few yards before I decided to rest-"

"Katy, I need you to tell me how you were _feeling_, not what you were _doing._" She said.

I took a pause and continued, "I wrapped the blanket around me, but as a precaution took my socks and tied them around my wrists to keep warm blood flowing while I was in there."

Then came the hard part: when I really remembered my first night in the vent.

"When I tried to sleep, I-I couldn't. So-um… I remembered this thing that my mom always told me to do when I got scared. To put my hand out, and imagine that Jesus was holding it, and protecting me."

"Were you feeling scared?"

I shook my head, "No." my voice began to crack, but suddenly I just couldn't have cared less, "But I just wanted her back, I wanted _them _back!" I felt tears well up in my eyes, "I stuck my hand out, and tried to imagine she was holding it. But it didn't work! Whenever I used to try, I'd feel better, or comforted or something! But nothing happened."

And again, as much as I tried to hold them back, stray tears slowly began to fall.

"And I kept trying harder and harder to think of her being there! And I just kept feeling the cold air from the vent. And I started to drift off, and I thought I saw them for a second. And I tried to open my eyes wider to see them, but that just made them leave! And I kept asking them 'please just stay with me, just until I fall asleep. Stay with me' but they-they di-"

I felt it, I felt it all start to rise to the surface ready to burst. And I knew if it did, I'd start telling this woman everything that had been going on (or at least as much as I could, with Damon's compulsion) and I didn't want to handle all that right now.

"I-I can't-no more-no-"

"Okay, okay honey, no more." Ms. Lark assured me, "You've have enough today."

"W-where is the bathroom?" I asked.

"Right next door. You can go, I'll give you a few minutes and then we can talk a little bit more-"

"No! I-" I steadied my voice, "Can I just go home?"

She looked at me with an understanding look on her face, she seemed to consider it in her head before she nodded, "Okay, I'll call Mr. Salvatore and tell him to come pick you up, okay honey?"

I nodded, "Yeah, thanks I-uh-I just need a minute to myself-I'll-I'll be right back." I said sprinting out the room and to the bathroom next door.

***Twenty Minutes Later***

I had taken a few minutes to myself so I could stop any chance of sobbing. I managed to dry any stray tears, and once again used my breath control method to stop it. After a few minutes I was alright again, but I decided to avoid any more therapy sessions from now on.

Damon arrived to pick me up just in time, and drove us both home and the same silence as the ride there, giving me time to contemplate things going on.

And I came to a conclusion about one issue…

_*Third Person's POV*_

Lexi had been wandering about the house, aimlessly and bored while Stefan had gone off to school. She walked over to the bar, and decided to spite Damon a little by pouring a big glass (that she knew she wouldn't drink most of) of Damon's favorite scotch.

Slowly, Katy's small face peeked out from the doorway and her eyes landed on the woman at the bar.

"Lexi?" she said sheepishly.

Startled and nervous, Lexi spilled a small bit of her drink as she quickly set it down, "Katy, hey. Are you okay?"

The two girls had focused so much of their attention on their budding conversation that neither noticed Damon watching the two curiously with his arms folded.

Katy shook her head, "No." The young girl took a breath, "Lexi I'm sorry I treated you so badly. And I've been thinking... I don't have anyone, and I guess I wanted to keep everyone away cause they wouldn't replace the family I lost, and I don't want anyone to."

She took a step forward, shifting her feet anxiously as she continued, "You'll never replace my mom, or my dad, that's not going to happen. But if you want, I can trust you enough to come close. I really need that right now.

Lexi smiled widely as she sped over to hug the girl, "Of course I want that, that's what I've always wanted. Don't worry honey," she noticed Damon watching as she continued, "I'll always be here for you."

Katy smiled slightly as she returned the hug, "I know I haven't made this clear but I'm glad you're here Lexi."

Lexi smiled wider at her, pulling away from the hug so she could look her in the eye.

"I'm glad you're here too. I got something for you upstairs in your room, why don't you go up and get it and I clean up my drink okay?"

Katy nodded and went up the stairs, disappearing into the hallway.

Slowly Damon walked out of the space he was in and towards Lexi, "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep Lexi. After all, you're just here for Stefan's birthday and she's gonna be gone in four months."

"A lot can happen in four months. And who says my plans won't change for a special occasion?" she grinned.

"Me." Damon smirked.

_*Katy's POV*_

I rushed into my room, practically skipping with new found peace since the reconciliation a few moments ago. I went in and saw, neatly placed on my bed, a stuffed old envelope.

I sat on my bed to take a look, and found inside it were a handful of pictures. And not just any pictures, pictures of my parents and Lexi.

The first one was a picture of a poorly angled self-taken photo of Dad, Lexi, Mom, and baby me in front of an old house. I read the sharpie-written caption on the bottom of the Polaroid picture that said: Baby's first day home!

Then as I looked through, I saw more pictures, mostly of mom and Lexi in high school. Pictures of mom doing a cheer routine (This is one of the many reasons I think I was adopted), her and Lexi at a party, one or two of dad at a chess club match (this is reason number 2, I stink at chess), and just a bunch of pictures of them all together.

I could only guess mom left Lexi with these cheerful memories when she decided no more, which was probably why I never saw them.

And as I looked at them over and over, I thought to myself, _Maybe I'll be able to start healing._

**Please review! And check out my new story "Gwendolyn" and feel free to review that too! I need input people! It helps the writing come faster! :D**


	7. And It All Falls To Shit

Chapter 6

And It All Falls To Shit…

Next morning, I paced about my room bored and frustrated that I still didn't have my mother's ring. After a while, I began to try organizing the broken furniture in there, see if I could make it any more livable.

I came across an old desk under a broken rocking chair, and noticed the intials 'D.S.' on the corner of it. I smiled devilishly (and villain-laughed in my head) as I thought, _Well I did say anything labeled 'Damon' smash to bits._

Then I got a better idea to make more stakes to replace the ones Damon took, gotta love irony when it suits you.

So I got a small knife from the kitchen and began my work.

After I got to the third stake, Lexi walked in with her hands held high in surrender, "Don't attack it's just me."

I smiled and replied, "Just making some new stakes, Damon took mine when I burned him with vervain."

She laughed, "'Atta girl!"

"Thank you I'll be here all week… Actually for many weeks, unfortunately."

"Hey, it's not so bad. Have you been introduced to Stefan yet? He's fun to be around when he isn't 'Elena Longing'."

"So that's why I haven't met him yet?" I laughed, "Lexi, I've been thinking. Since you're my Godmother, and Damon doesn't want me here, why don't you adopt me?" I asked.

"Are you serious? You wanna be raised by me? The vampire with no self restraint?"

"Have you met the wacko I live with now?" we both laughed at that one, "Come on! I don't like him, he hates me, it's perfect!"

"Well, I live with my boyfriend right now, he's also a vampire." She looked me straight in the eye, "Can you handle living with two vampires after what happened?"

"Again, have you met the wacko I live with?" I said, "Yes, I can handle it! He can't be all bad if you're dating him."

Lexi smiled at the compliment, "Then I'll adopt you. I'll even find a better house for us all to live in. How does that sound?"

I smiled again, more than I ever had since I came here and hugged her, "It sounds great to me."

"Good!" she returned the hug, "Hey are you hungry? I forget human food sometimes, so want me to make you-… Something?"

I thought for a moment, "I'm in the mood for some chili. I can make mom's specialty!"

"Oh God I loved that stuff! What was the secret ingredient she kept talking about, it would always drive me crazy trying to figure it out!" she said as we walked towards the kitchen.

"Grinded up pizza pepper flakes. Adds the kick, as she says."

Lexi's mouth dropped in disbelief, "That's it? Uh! I'd suggesting she make it every time I came over, but she never let me in the kitchen, and that's what it was? Let down!"

"Why didn't you just speed in when she wasn't looking?" I asked, grabbing some ingredients from the cabinets.

"I tried, the first few thousand times I asked her she made me promise not to."

"Yeah, mom always was rather paranoid, but then again, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." I said, grabbing a pan to start cooking.

"Clearly, you look so confident with the cooking, just like she was. Chili was only one of the many things she could cook."

"Yeah, all expect for making eggs." I made a disgusted face at the memory, "I never knew eggs could taste like charcoal before then." she laughed.

"Yeah well I think that is my fault. I made a quake about how she's always baking but never eats eggs, but the first time she tried a hard-boiled one, it had a small dead chicken in it (A/N: This has happened to a friend of mine, trust me)."

"Ewwwwww!" I said, as Lexi nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, so she's had this irrational fear of them ever since."

I started laughing hysterically as a thought occurred to me, "Oh my! That explains _so _many Easters to me!"

"Yup, we were friend throughout high school you know." Lexi stated.

"Wait-aren't you like-several decades older than her? How'd you get into a high school anyway?" I asked.

"Well, Stefan is also in high school as we speak, and when you get bored you get ideas like that!"

"You get so bored you want to go _back _to high school that's incredible. You knew my dad in high school too, right?"

"Well, for the first half of sophomore year, we just knew him as 'the geek from chess club'. But then your mom started dating him, and he was known to the school as 'the dude with the hot chick'." She laughed.

I laughed with her as I added more ingredients to the chili, "It's the kind of love story that gives nerds out there hope. But dad was actually pretty bad ass sometimes, he trained me to be able to eat really spicy chili straight without it being diluted with water or celery sticks."

Lexi laughed, "One day I'll show you how to drink hot-sauce straight from the bottle. It's a good party trick, and it wins ya some extra cash when you need it."

I looked at her intrigued by that offer, "I'm gonna hold you to that."

Once the chili was done, me and Lexi had a fun time just talking and laughing, she told me great stories about my parents and even how dad scored a date with her.

"So long story short, she got so fed up with trying to get that math problem done, that he pulled the workbook away from her and wrote done a problem for her to solve just to get her back into the flow. The math problem was 9x-7i 3(x-7u)."

"Yeah so?" I asked confused.

"Well, she solved it, and the answer was i 3u." She wrote the answer on a napkin as she finished her story.

"Awww. Whada go dad!"

"Yeah, so after that she found it so cute she was puddy in his hands."

I nodded, "Say what you will about nerds but they know how to pick up chicks."

We both laughed again, until Lexi looked at her watch and smiled.

"Oh, my attorney's office is open now. I gotta call about the adoption." She smiled at me.

"You have an attorney?" I questioned as she dialed on her cell phone.

"Well, more like I knew a friend who studied law and now works as an attorney. He'll help us out. Besides I've also gotta call real estate-Hey Toby!" and with that she walked out of the room.

"Toby?" I said to no one in particular.

Just then Damon walked into the room heading towards the bar. I said nothing and continued to look at the ground.

"Silent treatment? Really?" he asked, "I would have thought something along the lines of 'I hate everyone and everything!' but that's good too."

I rolled my eyes, "Well, it's not like we're the best of friends, I'm pretty sure the only reason you haven't used me as a midnight snack is because Lexi would kill you, and you took my ring."

Now he rolled his eyes, "You should really blab your problems to someone who cares, little girl."

"Well, luckily for me I'll be out of here real soon as I'll be adopted by Lexi. So you may wanna just give me back the ring since you can't use it." I said holding my hand out for it.

"Awww, that's sweet." He mocked, "But you know, I think I'll hold onto it for a while. I might even keep it when you leave, to remember you by."

I really got ticked off at that one, "You wouldn't dare!" I growled.

"Oh sure I would." He smirked.

Lexi hopped back into the room smiling, "I called the attorney, and managed to hit two birds with one stone. He got a big promotion and is moving to a bigger house, but he's willing to sell us his two bedroom house half price-well, I black-mailed for half, but he said it."

"Whoo! Go Lexi!"

"Exactly, so-" she sped over to the bar and poured one soda and one scotch, "I say we celebrate to our new house."

I walked over and grabbed the soda, "I will drink to that." As soon as I finished, a guy with golden brown hair who looked a bit like Damon walked in.

"Stefan!" Lexi confirmed for me, "Come on in, we could use another reason to celebrate!"

"Uh, okay." He looked at me, "Is this Katy?"

Lexi side-hugged me, "The one and only. Come on Stef, we need to celebrate your birthday!"

"Oh, happy birthday Stefan." I said awkwardly.

He smiled and walked towards us, "Thank you. What else are we celebrating?"

"Lexi's adopting me and we're getting a house."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm taking on a parent role now." She smirked, "Surprised?"

"Extensively." Stefan said, "But I'm happy for you. Cheers."

And we all took a sip of our drinks, then Lexi asked, "So what are we doing for your birthday tonight?"

Just then Damon perked up, "Funny you should ask."

"Well, I wasn't asking you." Lexi sneered.

"There's a party tonight, at the grill." He pointed to Lexi, "You'll love it. Tacky wait staff, _all _of Stefan's friends."

"Yeah, I don't want a birthday party." Stefan said.

"Well it's not _for _you, it's a party party, no one's gonna know it's your birthday." He replied, "Caroline's throwing it."

"Damon, stay away from Caroline."

"We're friends it's cool. It's important for the town to see us out and about, we need to blend."

I shook my head, "I'm sorry, what did you say? I'm still on the fact that _you _have a friend."

Lexi went over to the bar and pulled out a blood bag, "She's got a point there Damon." then stuck a straw in to drink it.

"Come on. It'll be fun, us all going out to celebrate. Just like a happy family." He said in a mocking tone, then looked to Lexi, "Ech, I prefer mine 98.6."

Then he walked out of the room, leaving us all looking befuddled by that comment… Both of them for me obviously.

After a minute Lexi shrugged, "Let's go." She saw the looks on both mine and Stefan's faces and added, "Please?"

***About An Hour later***

Lexi managed to convince us to go to the party, and while she and Stefan were getting ready, I sat in my room getting dressed myself.

I didn't really think much about the fashion aspect of things, I wasn't good at it and I hated to go shopping, so I just threw on some ripped jeans and a black T-shirt with a butterfly on it. Then I just quickly brushed some powder on, put a tiny amount of mascara on the tips of my lashes, and some chap stick.

And that's all she wrote on that front.

I walked outside my room and towards Stefan's, where both he and Lexi walked out just I came. She smiled at me and hugged me, then looked at me and said, "Alright, now I know it's a party, and _everyone_-" she took a long look at Stefan, "is going to have fun. But I don't want to see any drinking of alcohol, got it?

Stefan sighed, "Alright, I promise."

"Not you! The twelve year old!"

I laughed and said, "Alright, I'll stick with juice boxes and cookies like a good little girl. And Stefan that's gonna be your present tonight-" I held my hand up, "Trust me on this, that's a _really _rare gift. And I don't even know you."

Stefan laughed, nodding as he replied, "I accept. I'm gonna meet you guys at the grill okay?"

"Alright. Come on Katy let's go!" Lexi said, grabbing my hand and running us to the door. We took Lexi's car to the grill and walked in, immediately greeted by Damon. Seriously is he just everywhere?

"Where's my brother?"

"He said, he'd meet us here." Lexi stated, pushing me past him.

"Buy you a-" but that's all he got out before she pushed us towards the pool table.

"You know how to play kid?" she asked, grabbing a pole.

"Nope, I stink at this."

She wouldn't accept my answer and pushed another pole into my hands, "Well, I'm gonna teach you before Stefan comes, give him a run for his money. I think you'll be good at this game."

***Half Hour later***

I wasn't.

Lexi would have been winning by a mile if we'd been awarding points.

"Okay, so I'm frequently wrong. Come on just this last one, go Katy!"

I attempted the magic eight ball, it was in a perfect position to be easily thrown in, and so I gathered my dignity (which had been decreasing drastically throughout this lesson) and attempted to make it in.

I hit it too hard and the white ball bounced off the table and wacked a drunken patron in the leg.

"Hey!" he cried.

"Sorry about that!" I saw the ball about the roll off onto the dance for and went after it, "I better get that if I don't want to cause personal injury to the entire bar."

I rushed over to where it was rolling just before it went over a step, coincidentally also a few feet away from Damon and some blonde chick. Clearly, it wasn't a great conversation because-well, this is what he ended it with.

"And shallow." He paused, "And useless." And walked away from the girl and straight into me, holding the white ball in my hands.

I narrowed my eyes at him and simply said, "Dick." And walked away back to the pool table.

I returned to see that Lexi had ventured out onto the dance floor with a newly arrived Stefan. I laughed as I watched them continue in what appeared to be the most awkward dancing in history. Honestly, there were no words.

So I just wandered through the party, bopping my head to a good song when it came on (and by good song I mean, a Katy Perry song), until I got bored and went back over to where Stefan and Lexi were playing pool.

"Hey! Katy we need a score master, feeling up to it?" she asked.

I pretended to consider, "Hmm, award points in a position of power while making sarcastic comments about the players, or wander around aimlessly with a bunch of drunken adults and minors?" I put my hands into a weighing position before answering, "I think I'll go for the first one."

"Good, because I need to get some tequila shots, and I don't want him cheating while I'm gone."

"When have I ever cheated?" Stefan asked rhetorically.

Lexi smiled and turned back to me, "Watch him." Then turned to Stefan, "Watch her." and walked off.

"Wait whose watching who?" I called, receiving no answer. I shrugged and took a stool by the pool table, watching Stefan sink 'em one by one.

"So Katy. You're Lexi's Goddaughter huh?"

"Yup, you the supposedly heart of gold brother of my currant asshole guardian?" I joked.

He smiled, "I guess so. But Lexi's gonna adopt you though right?"

"Yeah, that's kind of why she said 'I'm adopting Katy' earlier today." I retorted.

"Alright, alright, just wanted to wish you luck that's all." Then he suddenly went still for a minute.

I shifted my eyes confused, "Stefan? Hello?" nothing, "The world is ending!" not even a flinch, "FI-"

"If you yell fire in this place right now Caroline will have my head." He responded without turning his head to me.

Suddenly then Lexi came back, no drinks in her hand, "Yeah, I drank your's. Sorry." and went for her pole.

He smiled at her and said, "Thank you."

"You weren't supposed to be listening." Then she saw Stefan give her a look, "I was feeling epic. Whatever."

I was beyond confused at this point, "Okay guys, not everyone here has supernatural hearing people! A little context would help."

They both smiled and giggled at their little inside joke, "It's alright Katy just let it go."

"Ugh, one day you'll have to tell me this stuff."

"Uh, no we won't." Stefan said, but then continued to look around nervously. Something about this act seemed to spark Lexi into a frustrated groan.

"Stef, stop looking around for him, it's your birthday enjoy it!"

"I'm just being cautious." He replied.

"Bro _I'm _not that paranoid, and I don't like the guy anymore then you do." I said sarcastically.

He shook his head, as Lexi rolled her eyes, "Alright, I am getting another drink, stay here." She said and walked off.

For the next few minutes I sat silently as Stefan continued on with the game, I was definitely liking him more than Damon already; not because he was nicer (though yeah that was a point in his favor), but because he was quiet.

Elena walked over to us smiling a bit awkwardly and waved, "Hey."

I looked between the two of them, and suddenly began to understand the 'context' I asked about before. I shook my head and stood up, "Yeah, I'm just gonna go… Mingle."

They nodded as I left and continued with their own tension.

_Damn, _I thought, _It's like living in a soap opera, except with bloodsucking creatures… So it's like a soap opera!_

I looked around for something to occupy my time with when I saw Lexi talking with Damon; as if that wasn't strange enough, I noticed the police walking into the bar with a de-shoveled-looking woman. Interested, I tried to move close to where they were and listen in on what they were saying.

"Alright, now just point out who it is if you see them, okay?" Sherriff told her.

After a minute or two of looking about, she pointed to where Lexi and Damon were.

At first, I thought Damon had gotten careless and got recognized, but I had a feeling that wasn't the case. Fear stricken, I started to rush up towards them, at the same time the police did; only I didn't get there in time to help.

I only saw Lexi grow weak immediately as they got up to her; Damon was seeming to be confused, and then the police dragging her off.

I felt terrified, absolutely horrified at the thought of Lexi getting hurt, I almost felt paralyzed in my spot.

All I kept thinking in my head was, _No, not again, not another one!_ And as that repeated in my mind, it gave me the strength to finally run towards where they were taking Lexi.

I saw Stefan and Elena try to go through without success, but I continued to go to the same door, only to be stopped by some deputies.

"Wow, kid, are you allowed here? Where are your parents?" one asked.

"Move!" I growled at him.

"Not until you-" I got fed up with him and kicked him in the crotch, running out the door right afterwards.

I heard them calling out after me, but I kept running as fast as I could. I got outside and looked around for them, suddenly hearing shots fired, and then I took off towards the sound. But in the same second I got there, I watched as Damon drove a stake through Lexi's heart.

I tried to scream, I really tried, I even tried to move my feet but nothing happened. My body felt paralyzed, and my voice had gone, all that remained was my sight and yet that was what I didn't want most.

And as if the metaphorical knife hadn't hurt enough, it really twisted it when I looked to Lexi's body and saw it had been one of my stakes that was sticking out of her chest.

"Katy." I heard the Sherriff say, then saw her coming towards me, but I made no visible reaction to her movements, "Katy? Katy can you hear me? Katy!"

She turned to Damon, who was carrying Lexi's body and said, "Get it in the car. Then help me with her."

_*Third Person POV*_

Katy had been sitting in Sherriff Forbes office for almost an hour; her face was completely blank, emotionless, and almost dead. She hadn't said anything since the incident, and kept looking into space even as the world went on around her.

Counselor Lark had been called in to try and talk to her, but she barely managed a response from the girl, and was becoming more disturbed by the girl's well-being every minute.

Marianne walked towards where Damon had been talking to the Sherriff about the vampire that he killed. When she got up to them, they turned their attention to her immediately.

"How is she?" Liz asked.

"Not good, I barely got a reaction from her. It's like she's gone blank, like she isn't aware of anything right now. She's withdrawing, and if hurting her more then she thinks." Marianne explained.

"Well, can you do anything?" Damon asked, trying to play up the concerned guardian bit. But the response to his question would be going in deeper than he anticipated.

"Actually, I need you to do something."

"What? Why me?" he asked.

"You're her guardian, at least temporarily. She needs someone to bond with, someone she'll show emotion with."

Damon considered her words, completely in disbelief about what she was saying, "That can't be me. I'm the one who killed somebody in front of her in her mind."

"Damon, right now she needs someone more than ever. When a person is in grieving, anybody they become close to during that time generally remains as a trusted friend. That person could be you if you listen to me."

"You want to manipulate her into bonding with me? Isn't that against protocol or something?"

Ms. Lark took a breath and explained, "Damon, she's at a very critical point right now. How we treat this situation could affect her mental health severely. There is a very real chance that if she doesn't bond with someone right now, she won't bond with anyone ever."

He took a breath, annoyed by the circumstances and what they were asking him to do, but he knew he was in too deep to reject the request now. He did however think that maybe he could manipulate the situation to make him look good without having to bond with the kid. After all, he did still have Katy's vervain ring with him.

"Alright, what do I have to do?" he asked.

"Just talk to her, try to get her talking, or at least respond in some way. Make as much eye contact as possible, and try to hold her hand, physical touch increases bonding chances."

He nodded, only half-listening to that and walked into the office where Katy sat, sit emotionless as before. Damon took a seat opposite where she was, and as he did she looked up at him with a somewhat dazed recognition, though she said nothing he could see in her eyes she could still comprehend everything at that point (clear though that she didn't want to).

"Hi." No response, he rolled his eyes and continued, "Well, you aren't being helpful so let's just get straight to it."

He looked her in the eyes and compelled her, "You are going to let out all that pent up emotion, and you are going to seek comfort from someone, doesn't matter who it is but you are going to do this right now. Do you understand?"

"I understand." She said, just as emotionless.

He ceased eye contact and began to stand up, but suddenly heard crying from Katy. He stood over her, watching as her eyes dripped with hot tears, her breath cracking and heaving.

She had her eyes closed for a minute as she cried, but then she looked up at him and threw her arms around him, therefore trapping him in a hug as she continued to sob.

Damon didn't know what to do, he inwardly cursed himself for being so sloppy with the compulsion, but almost immediately forgot that complaint as he struggled to think of what to do next.

He slowly wrapped his arms around the small girl, trying to gently pat her back in attempt to calm her sobbing.

Her cries only quieted when they were muffled by Damon's chest, and when she ran short on air she heaved strangled breath, trying to stop her cries merely to retrieve oxygen. When she inhaled enough, she continued to sob.

Damon forgot the situation for a minute and began stroking her hair while gently whispered 'shh' to her, unable to think of anything to comfort the girl.

But he soon became aware of the situation once again and pulled away from the girl to look in her eyes.

"Alright, that's enough. You are going to start feeling drowsy and you'll begin to fall asleep right now, okay?"

Katy nodded, already beginning to feel drowsy, and let her head start to drop. He caught the kid in his arms and lifted up the sleeping girl.

"Up you go." He muttered as he adjusted her to rest her head on his shoulder as he carried her.

Damon pushed the door open and moved towards the counselor and the Sherriff.

Liz looked at the pair and asked, "Good talk?"

He nodded, "Yeah, but I'm gonna take her home. She's had a long night."

"Of course, I'll get the door."

"Thanks." He started outside, only to be stopped by Marianne.

"You're doing a good thing Damon, she needs you."

Damon didn't really know how to respond so he simply kept silent and headed out the door towards his car.

Once they got home, Damon sped both himself and the sleeping Katy to her room, laying her gently on the bed.

He took a moment to look at her, now that she was peacefully asleep and not whining about something, she looked more like a child then she had since she'd arrived. Most of the time she was quiet or spouting words that shouldn't be used by any under the age of fifteen (sometimes older); now she just looked like a kid, new and ready for life, still unaffected and-dare I say it- almost innocent.

Damon smirked at the thought; looks really can be deceiving can't they.

Absentmindedly, he placed his hands in his jacket pockets; only to have one had burned by the ring inside. He grabbed an old handkerchief from the closet and pulled out the ring, taking a good look at it.

It was rather simple, but elegant in its own way; the band was a silver Celtic knot it seemed, with a very dark blue stone he couldn't identify right away, and saw it was a poison ring but didn't dare try to open it. Clearly made for a woman though, so it confused him way Katy had it at all. Then he saw a small engraving inside the silver twisted band: _I'll try to like you most of the time, but I won't stop loving you._

He rolled his eyes at the sapping engraving as he realized it had been an engagement ring. Obviously her mother's, unless the twelve year had an interesting back story to tell.

He looked from the ring to the sleeping child and sighed, "Well, it's not like I can use it." And carelessly threw the ring on the crooked nightstand by the bed, and walked out of the room.

***One Hour Later***

Katy awoke from sleeping about an hour later and looked around her.

All the events came rushing back to her as she tried to think of how she got there. But just when she felt ready to kill Damon as slowly and painfully as she could manage, she saw her mother's ring on the nightstand.

She grabbed it immediately and held it close to her chest affectionately, almost as if she was hugging the ring, before placing it back in its rightful place on her thumb.

But though she knew in her heart that this in no way made up for what he did to Lexi, she just couldn't handle any anger right then, let alone sadness.

She felt much too tired for life at that point, and just wanted a break from it.

She attempted to fall back asleep, but found herself tossing and turning just as she had done every night so far. In a matter of seconds, she tossed so much she dropped from the bed and onto the floor with a small 'thud'.

"Ouch." She murmured.

But just as she was about to get up from the floor, she looked to see under the bed, noticing just how much space there was.

An idea came to her, a crazy thought, but to her it was worth a shot. She grabbed her pillow and blankets, and placed them all under the bed, afterwards crawling inside to sleep.

And suddenly, for the first time she had been at the Boarding House, she fell fast asleep within seconds.

**Katy's Mom's Ring: images/Rings/Poison-55/Poison% **


	8. Wonderland

Chapter 7  
>Wonderland<p>

_*Third Person's POV*_

Stefan had been in a peaceful sleep, until Damon sped in with two coffee mugs.

"Rise and shine!" Damon chirped, "Don't wanna be late for school."

"What are you doing?" Stefan asked.

Damon reached one of the mugs out to him, "Peace offering." Stefan didn't seem interested, "Come on, you need it for blood circulation. Does dead flesh good!"

Stefan glared at him, and Damon rolled his eyes slightly, "Alright, I'm sorry."

"Step aside, please." Stefan said, pushing past him.

"I got the town off our back; it was for the greater good, I'm sorry." He said, though still uncaring, "And to prove it, I won't feed on a human, for at least a-week. I'll adopt the Stefan diet, only nothing with feathers."

"Because I realize that killing your closet and oldest friend is beyond evil, and yet somehow, it's worthy of humor."

Damon raised an eyebrow, "Are you mimicking me?"

"Yes Stefan, now that the secret society of vampire-haters is off our backs, I can go back to my routine of 'how can I destroy Stefan's life this week?'."

Damon got the idea and soon indulged in the mocking a bit himself, "And I can go back to sulking, and Elena-Longing, and brooding-I like this, it's fun." He smiled.

"And I," Stefan paused, "Will reveal the ulterior motive behind my evil and diabolical return to Mystic Falls."

Damon paused a second, "Yeah, I'm done" and began to walk out.

"You know I'm not the only one you have to apologize to."

He stopped and turned around, "Oh right, we have a little house guest living with us don't we? Hey, speaking of, can you drop her off at school? I have plans and I would be _eternally_ grateful."

"Sure, I'll drop her off." Stefan said, "But only because I think she'd feel safer with me then with the bloodthirsty psychopath who murdered her Godmother."

Damon placed a hand over his heart, "Ouch. I'm hurt Stefan, that you would think I would harm a tiny helpless human child."

"You had no problem murdering her Godmother."

Damon smirked, "Ah, Lexi. Well, she'll get over it." Once again he turned to leave, but turned around and backed out of the room saying, "Just like you, Damon, always have to have the last word."

He walked down the hallways to Katy's room, entering without knocking.

"Rise and shine girlie!" but soon noticed afterwards she didn't appear to be in sight… And neither were her bed-sheets or pillow.

Then he tilted his head slightly to see a foot sticking out from under the bed, along with the bed-sheets. Confused, he placed the coffee mug on the night stand, and bent down to see a sleeping Katy.

"Hey! Girlie! Up and at 'em!" he said, waking her up, "What are you doing under here? Did you not see the comfy bed right above you?"

Katy glared at him, not saying a word, to which Damon responded by rolling his eyes.

"Two in five minutes, okay I'm sorry, is that what you wanna hear?"

"I was hoping for the rough draft of your obituary." She said

"Hey, Katy, if it makes you feel any better the last thing I wanna do it hurt you." He replied, "But it's gonna stay on the list unless you lighten up. Now get dressed, Stefan's driving you to your first day of school."

With that he walked out, but not before hearing her mumble, "Mom was right; we have enough gun control what we really need is idiot control."

He smirked and walked back into Stefan's room.

"Is Katy coming?" he asked.

"Yes, she's getting dressed now."

"Did you try to apologize?"

"Yes, Stefan. I hit two birds with one stone actually; I found where I'm gonna hide her body when she gets too annoying." He smirked once again.

_*Katy's POV*_

After I got dressed, Stefan took me drove me to school; we had both been silent for some time until he spoke.

"Katy, I'm sorry you lost Lexi. That shouldn't have happened." He said, sympathetically.

I looked to Stefan, about to say something snarky to offset this moment, and then as I looked at him, I remembered what Lexi said about my parents.

_You're not the only one who lost them._

And I thought about it; it took a while for it to occur to me that someone else shared my loss when it came to my parents, I didn't used to have family, friends, or close neighbors—or even _actual _relatives outside my parents! So when it came to Lexi, it took a while to understand that she lost them too, because I felt like I was the only one who really knew them.

But actually seeing Stefan and Lexi together, hanging out or talking, it seemed to me they had a long history; they really were friends. And I guess that helped me realize, now more than ever, Stefan had lost someone important to him like I had. Not exactly, but she was important to him in one way or another.

Maybe it was because I was feeling sentimental or something, but I felt like I was beginning to have a certain understanding with Stefan.

Or maybe I just wanted to piss off Damon by getting along with his brother, I don't know.

I didn't really know how to respond to his words so I simply nodded. He seemed satisfied with my response and continued to drive up the school parking lot.

When he pulled into a space, I gathered up my duffle bag (now filled with some unused notebooks of Stefan's), but before I could hop out of the car, he stopped me.

"Katy," he looked at me with a serious expression, "Are you gonna be okay?"

I nodded again, "Yeah, I'll be alright."

"You'll try to stay out of trouble?"

I thought for a moment, "Nah."

"Katy." He said sternly.

"Stefan, you've met me right? Do you honest to goodness believe I'll stay out of trouble even if I tried?"

I shook my head and began to head out again, but then heard Stefan laugh slightly and mutter something with the words, 'Damon' and, 'paternity test,' that brought me very close to visibly dry-heaving.

Once I made sure the contents in my stomach would remain in place, I got my things and headed straight to the building in front.

Now you see, for most of my life I had been homeschooled-at least after second grade, so I wasn't familiar with the curriculum.

Needless to say, the mere fact it was school to begin with was just the shiny little cherry on top of the gross cafeteria sundae.

As I walked inside the school, I saw it was practically empty, there were only one or two groups scurrying around to class.

I was a little tempted to say "Slowly I turned!" in a heavily dramatic and pretentious voice.

I headed towards Information when I turned a corner, and from what it sounded like, bumped into a badly recorded Barbie voice over.

"Ah! What the hell!?" cried the shrill voice.

I looked up, expecting to see one person, but instead saw _many _persons in hideous yellow, black, and orange cheerleading outfits.

Of-freakin-COURSE!

Most of the girls looked like they were trying _way _too hard to be quote unquote 'hip' ( yes, say that _with _the fingers), which was half because of the cheerleading uniforms and half because their make-up styles looked like-well, twelve year olds who tried to use their teenage sister's make-up.

The one I crashed into had platinum blonde hair, medium brown shaded eyebrows, bright red painted full lips, and grey almond-shaped eyes-topped with heavy yellow eye shadow and too much eyeliner.

_Maybe I should stop commenting on the make-up, _I thought to myself, _I don't know any more then they probably do._

The girl glared at me for a second then asked, "Who are you?"

"Katy Weston, who are you?"

"Bianca Calloway. You're new here, or else you would have known that." She said, seeming to be almost amused.

"Right…" I drawled, "I am new here, thank you Captain Obvious."

She gave out a humorless laugh, "You're funny. And apparently psychic too, because, _I _happen to be cheerleading Captain." She said in a superior voice.

Again, OF-FREAKIN-COURSE!

"Why thanks." I said in a snarky tone, "Maybe you are too, riddle me this: What do you call a cheerleader with ESP and PMS?"

She looked confused, when she didn't respond I continued, "A know-it-all bitch! Ba dum ching!"

I said the last part with a clap and some goofy drum movements with my hands, making me think to myself: God, I'm a dork.

Bianca's mouth opened in offense, same went for the other girls, but mostly it was just some shocked looks.

She regained her stance and scowled, "I see they've started letting freaks into this school."

"Started?" I gave a fake look of surprise then said with uncertainty, "Okay…"

Then, without another word, I scurried off back to my task.

On my way, I thought to myself: _Really God? Harry Potter had Voldemort, Batman had The Joker, Buffy had the freakin' First Ever Evil! And this is what you give me? The twelve year old equivalent of Paris Hilton? You have got to be kidding me! I'm not against antagonists God, I can be one at times! But please make them likable! Not so 1-dimensional that you could replace them with ANY teen drama 90's villain and not add or subtract a thing!_

This went on for a while longer, but I cut it for the sake of time.

When I got to the office, finding it just as dull as Ms. Lark's (seriously people, at least add a plant or something-maybe a wall color other than off-white?), and walked over to the secretary's desk.

I looked at the woman there, Minnie Brewer from what her name tag read, was a woman in about her late fifties. She was a tall twig-like lady, with small brown eyes, pixie-cut blonde hair, and pinkish light skin.

I asked her for my schedule, she grinned happily finishing her tea quickly before getting it for me.

"There you are honey, your first class is English, its two doors down on the right."

I managed an awkward smile at the cheerful old woman and continued towards my class.

Here is one piece of advice for you about my school (aside from don't go there): Never _ever_ be late for a class.

I'll explain.

When I walked into the classroom, it had been in the beginning/middle portion, and so of course when the loud sound of the squeaky door came I was spotted.

I don't know if you know this, but when you are the last one to arrive anywhere, everyone will become instantly emotionless. Hence why, it is one of the most awkward and terrifying experiences of child/teen hood.

It was like I walked into the classroom and was greeted by "Hasta la vista, Baby!"

And one of the creepiest things about looking out over a sea of twelve year old terminators, was just how fast they snap their heads in your direction.

Synchronized!

"You must be Miss Weston," said the teacher, "Come in. Take a seat by Mr. Jensen over there."

I looked to where he pointed and saw a redheaded boy who couldn't possibly be twelve. As I slowly walked to the empty seat, I began hearing the kids around me whisper amongst themselves things like, 'Is that her?' or, 'Which do you think it was?'

I was extremely confused by the tidbits I caught, until I caught two dudes chatting slightly louder than the others.

"It was totally drugs; after all it's what her folks were dealing," the first guy said.

"I heard it was alcohol, she helped sell it to her schoolmates."

And I realized: these kids were talking about my parents!

It made sense, Sherriff Forbes covered their murder by saying it was a drug deal gone awry, and I guess my new classmates heard about it.

Well, this day is just going to suck, isn't it?

I sat down next to Jensen and took out a pencil and notebook from my bag, starting to just write anything written down on the blackboard, not bothering to really listen to what he was saying.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked to see Jensen who whispered, "Hey, I'm Terrance, you're the Weston girl from TV right?"

I shrugged, "I suppose so, and it's Katy by the way."

"Nice to meet you." He said, "So you're the girl whose parents were dealers, huh?"

I snapped my head to him, almost regretting it from his creepy green eyes that shifted weirdly like he was seeing three of me, and bit my lip for a minute to keep from making a scene in class.

I lowered my head and told him in a growling whisper, "Shut up and give that hole in your face a chance to heal."

"Hey! I ain't judging, just curious, sorry. So how old are ya?"

"Twelve. I'd ask how old you are but I know you can't count that high."

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen. Ha!" he whispered.

I gave him a weird look, "Wait, fourteen? This is seventh grade."

"I was pulled back one year, and my birthday is like in the middle of the school year, so, yeah."

This kid was either really dumb, or one of those sweet, innocent, well-intentioned psychos. Perhaps a little bit of both.

He attempted to say something else but was caught by the teacher, who made him switch seats with a girl named Judy Moore.

I glance quickly at Judy who was about the same height as me, black hair that was in a messy bun sitting on top of her head, and thin wire glasses that made her dark blue eyes look huge.

I didn't pay much attention to anything afterwards, to either my schoolmates or the class, when the teacher didn't write anything else on the blackboard I just started writing down things to annoy Damon.

Here's the list:

Replace all his socks with pink ones

Put vervain under his pillow (that had yet to be determined how, since I didn't have any more vervain besides my ring)

Play the song 'Barbie Girl' in his room when he's asleep

Sharpie (I didn't write anything really specific, there were just so many things to do with that alone)

Put bleach in his shampoo and/or conditioner

_I think I'm being too nice, _I thought, _must google pranks later._

"That's a little too amateurish, don't you think?" Judy asked, obviously reading over my shoulder.

Irritated, I scowled, "Do you have any better ideas, then?"

"Well, now that you mention it-"

"Oh, never mind!" I whispered, not really wanting an answer to my previous question.

She shook her head saying, "Your asinine simian countenance alludes that your fetid stench has anulled the anthropoid ape species diversity."

I replied, fairly confused, "I don't know half those words you just said, but since I'm lacking in an extensively insult-oriented rebuttal I shall use my thought process to further manufacture what the common earthling would know as 'pranks'."

_Okay, _I thought, _Maybe I should stop trying to rebuke my opponents, clearly today is the day when I'm just giving them _more_ reasons to make fun of me._

She shook her head muttering, "Dumbass."

Throughout the class, I rarely raised my head for anything, but hadn't yet mastered the art of selective hearing so I caught pretty much everything.

From what I could tell, Terrance wasn't dumb but wasn't particularly bright either, but then again I was next to the class genius so there was no competition in that case.

Judy was an eager student, and the scary thing about it was just how professional she sounded when she talked. This is English, the BS-your-way-through class, and yet she made it sound like rocket science.

At the end of class I was asked a question-twice since I didn't answer, but didn't respond so the teacher said, "What's wrong with you? Do you know the answer or not?"

Then I told him, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool then to speak and remove all doubt."

"Miss Weston, not only are you trying my patience on your first day-leaving a terrible impression by the way-, but you also contradicted yourself just now."

Some of the class let out some muffled laughs and I said, "Touche Mr. Conroy."

After that the bell rang, and we were excused from class for lunch (what can I say? The traffic coming here was terrible… And I took an hour long shower before I came), which for me was basically sitting outside and pretending to study when really I was just drawing random lines on the notebook.

I continued in my boring activity until I heard someone call my name.

"Katy! Katy!" I looked to my right and saw Terrance, smiling widely, "Hey get over here!"

I shook my head, trying to continue focusing on the notebook, but I felt myself being pushed to the right and looked up at the creepy-eyed kid.

"Hey! Get over here I wanna introduce you to some friends!" he slurred slightly as he pulled me to the side of the school building-never a good place to be.

And he shows me, a dark corner of the building where a bunch of twelve year olds smoking joints, and passing around a small bottle of pills like they were chips.

It just made no sense to me, about why or how. I mean, it's kind of understood if it were some high school kids, but these kids were my age! But I remembered Terrance's questionable age, and also started seeing one or two older kids, and I began to understand a bit of the 'how?'

After the accessing the situation, I suddenly was feeling a lot more interested in the intangible notes I had from English, so I tried to walk away only to be pushed back by Terrance.

"Hey come on, you haven't even met everyone yet, we just wanna say 'welcome to school'." He looked over me to somebody I didn't see, "Hey! Dex! Help me out 'ere!"

I turned to see that 'Dex' was Judy Moore! The smart girl from English, was sitting on the side of the building, scribbling something in a textbook and sculling back some pills with a pepsi.

Now earlier I didn't really pay much attention to Judy-or Dex apparently-, but now that I took a closer look, I noticed some strange things about her. Her once messy bun was now undone, with her slipping wire glasses, it now showed her skinny angled face with the sunken in cheeks and shadows under her eyes. Her skin was had a greyish tint, and when you looked closer you could see the vague outlines of her rib-cage through her baggy shirt.

Dex looked over to me, her blue eyes slightly glazed over, and walked over to where Terrance and I were. She held out the bottle of pills in front of me, "Go on, take one, you could use it. I don't get called Poindexter for nothing ya know?" she added in a bitter tone, "At least you can fake some brains."

Offended, I did the next thing that came to mind, which was slap the bottle out of her hand. When I did, some other kids started crawling after the fallen pills and picking them up desperately.

I looked back to Dex who looked pissed off, "Trying to be a martyr huh?" she changed her voice to a high-pitched squeaky one, "'Oh no! She said no! What should we do?!' What do you think guys?" she asked the group who were all laughing like hyenas.

One girl in the back shouted, "Go away!" and the one next to her shouted, "Buzz killer!" and the next one shouted-well, yeah you can see where this goes.

So I shoved passed Terrance (who shouted 'Bitch!' at me as I left) and ran straight for my duffle bag, grabbing it and running inside the school. I went into the cafeteria and read over my schedule for the rest of the day, trying to take my mind off the group from earlier.

When it came time for Science, I was seated in front, with Dex right behind me and Terrance on my far right. Most of the time spent there was listening to the self-important sounding Mr. Gregory rant on and on about how 'evolution is the greatest factor of our time, one of the many things that Science has proven true.'

I had rolled my eyes at this man so much they began to hurt. Evolution was not, by any stretch of the imagination proven true, in fact scientist themselves have said they were proving it to be _wrong _more and more every day. And this may be my Dad's genes talking, but it was driving me crazy that this man wasn't even mentioning other theories opposing evolution.

_Man, this man should have been and math teacher: he adds trouble, subtracts pleasure, divides attention, and multiplies ignorance! _I thought.

After getting bored-more so than I already was- I raised my hand when he took a pause.

"Miss Weston, anything to add?"

"Yeah, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that your statements about evolution are incredibly untrue; specifically, how science has proven it to be true, which it hasn't-not even a little bit."

Mr. Gregory laughed slightly, obviously not believing me, "Well, science is a subject which needs stable arguments to back up any claim. So, do you have any evidence to back up your assumption?"

I smiled slightly turning my head in Terrance's direction, "Hey Terrance will you come over here for a minute?"

The kids behind me started laughing-even Dex- as Mr. Gregory and Terrance glared at me in anger.

"Miss Weston, I'm not going to tolerate that in my classroom." He said, turning his back to go to the blackboard.

I muttered, "Your birth certificate was an apology from the condom factory."

_*About a half hour later*_

I ended up saying that a little too loud, and as one might've guessed was sent to the principal's office. Ms. Winthrop lectured me immensely on my behavior then sent me to Ms. Lark's office, clearly realizing she wasn't getting anywhere with her lecture.

_Bitches, drugs, and detention all in the first day, Damon will be proud of me._

So there I was, sitting in the boring little office again, dodging questions from the school counselor and trying desperately not to fall for any of her mind games.

"Katy, how are things between you and Damon? Have you two talked anymore?"

_Oh, you mean the psychopath who murdered my Godmother, stole a precious item from me, disrespected the privacy of my mind, took more or less all my sources of defense, ad has the emotional range of that annoying operator voice that randomly calls your house? _I thought sarcastically, _Well, that's going about as well as you may think. This school is incredibly confusing, it's like Wonderland in Middle School form._

"Fine." I mumbled.

"Just fine? Have you talked to him about the situation?"

I shrugged, "Sure." But I could see in her eyes she didn't believe me, even though it was technically true.

"Katy, what did he say to you that night at the police station? You two seemed to have had a good talk." She said.

I decided not to respond to that question, and she continued, "Did you make any new friends today? There are a lot of nice kids here."

"Nope."

"Have you tried talking to any of them? Like really start a conversation?" she asked.

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm realizing more and more how much I just don't want to deal with people today."

She nodded, unoffended by my answer and asked, "Why don't you want to 'deal with them' so to speak?"

"Because, I don't want to be put in a position to talk about the kind of stuff I tell you." I stated.

"Don't you think it may help? Talking about these things? Not just with me but with others? You may find it's easier to be emotional with someone your own age."

"No, it's not any easier with someone my age then with you."

"Katy, what's the main problem with showing your emotional side with someone?"

"I prefer to keep things private; otherwise everything you say will be contradicted."

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously.

"Like crying, you can never properly cry in front of someone, so I don't like to do so." I said sternly.

"Why not?"

I looked at her, taking a breath to steady myself, "Because you're obligated to stop at some point."

I know that may seem silly, because that should be a good thing-to stop crying, but when it's with or in front of someone it's different.

For me it's almost a trick in and of itself, even if you trust someone enough to cry in front of them in the first place, it feels like you may never be able to trust them when it comes to staying all the way through.

Maybe there are people out there who will stay without question, but for me back then, that's a fear that nagged me all the time when it came to the emotional stuff.

**Okay, I realize this isn't my best chapter, it's mostly filler. But I'm trying, next one will be a mix of the end of episode 9 and the beginning of episode 10. **

**Can'tGuessThis: Katy is based off myself, I don't have an actor in mind for her.**

**I have a challenge for you loyal reviewers!**

**I have the main story arks for this story already planned, but I need help in writing the stuff in between for transitions, more specifically the school parts. The challenge is this: I will be accepting about five different long-term school shorts for the story, and anyone whose story is used will get a special mention and PM'd a small tidbit on future story arks. And if the reviews keep coming I may begin to write a riddle for everyone at the end of each chapter for you to guess what happens for a story ark or just the next chapter. It will test your brain skills and knowledge of the TV show.**

**Thank you all for your wonderful reviews already! I always enjoy reading them! :D**


	9. When Somebody Loved Me

**anonymous1397: Elena already knows about Katy, just not the full story. But about your other point, I've been considering it, and I still haven't made my decision yet but it is tipping in that scale so yeah. **

**Thanks for the reviews people! Enjoy this chapter! :D**

Chapter 8

When Somebody Loved Me

I waited outside the school when all was said and done, scowling at both the day and the car that pulled up in front of me.

"Hey Girlie, how was your first day?" Damon asked, smirking.

I got into the back seat, taking out something from my duffle bag and throwing it at him, "Evil incarnate." I said.

He examined what I threw at him, which was a small, hideous, yellow, black, and orange cheerleading outfit.

He smirked again, tossing it back to me, "Cheerleading not your calling?"

"I'm forced to do it on account of my apparent lack of social skills, the captain of the team is a bitch, and the outfit makes me look like the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee's hooker. What do you think?"

"I think you still haven't taken my advice about blabbing your problems to someone who cares."

"Well, you know, I don't generally take orders, especially from you." I said, and then got an idea, "Hey, if you want to lessen the things I complain about; why don't you get me out of cheerleading?"

"Now why would I do that? You're just going to complain about something else anyway, and you've just been so mean to me since you got here."

"Right back at ya, genius. And you will do it because you'd have to meet with my principal."

"Not helping your case."

"_She's_ in her early thirties, and is a D-cup."

He gave a contemplating expression before replying, "I'll think about it."

I smirked back, settling back into my seat again as we drove.

"If I do this, we're even?" he asked.

"Nope. Cause you're doing it to get laid, that's the exchange." I stated.

He gave me an incredulous look and said, "You know, you're really not helping your case."

"Well, I've got nothing to lose."

He scoffed, "Of course you do, you've got plenty to lose."

I turned my head away and looked through my duffle bag and got out a small black marble notebook.

"_Since you prefer not to talk about these things, why don't you write them down?" Ms. Lark said, handing the book to me._

_Well, Ms. Lark, I don't take orders and I don't like talking about it or writing it, so thanks for the free notebook! _I thought to myself.

I took out a pen, deciding what I wanted to write in it, and came up with nothing. Diaries could be read (Hi Anne Frank), I've never written a story before, and I wasn't gonna waste it on homework.

I spent most of the drive thinking about what to write-so basically nothing, and hadn't said a word to Damon. Once we got to the house, I stepped out of the car while he stayed in.

"Well, are you coming?" I asked.

He shook his head, "Nope. I'm going to the Grill, have some bourbon-"

"See if there's anyone around worth biting." I said expectantly.

"I'm going on the Bambi diet for a week. Consider it payback for killing Lexi."

"Payback for Stefan not me, you're gonna have to do better than that to even come close to earning my forgiveness. I didn't even like you to begin with, you pleb." (A/N: If you are Irish, or friends with anyone who is, you know what this means)

And I ran inside before he could respond… Like a boss!

...Yeah, I am just not clever today am I?

Anyways, I went around the house, just looking (or more accurately snooping) around when I found Damon's room.

Naturally, I would have just trashed the place, but I wanted to take my time. So I started going through drawers, boxes, and even went through some of the books on the tiny bookshelf (which was handy, I found a fifty in a sock drawer).

After a thorough search, I went over to the closed laptop on a desk, and decided to use one of my plans using iTunes and a CD in the stereo.

Cue villain laugh here.

Once I placed my prank, I headed back to my own room, and kept thinking about what to do next. Mostly just thinking about what to put in the notebook, because really, why would I-the twelve year old-spend more time on my homework willingly?

_Dad would kill me if he knew I wasn't doing my work, _I laughed in my head.

And then I thought more and more about it, and realized what I wanted to do with the notebook.

I wanted to write about my mom and dad, or at least whatever I could remember about them. One of the sad things about losing someone, is sometimes you begin to forget them, or at least the parts you want to remember most.

I didn't want to forget them, ever.

I began writing down some memories:

_The first memory had wrote had been a little over a year ago; I had been complaining to them about always coming with them when they were dealing, even if I was just out in the car. I was heading downstairs to get something to eat when I heard them talking in the living room._

"_Adam, we can't let her stay home by herself, she's twelve!" my mom said, aggravated._

"_Yes I know, but why can't we hire a babysitter then?" Dad countered, using his lawyer voice (blood dealing was just his night job),_

"_Remember last time that happened? Even if Katy or the hypothetical babysitter doesn't invite them in, humans could break in, and those humans could be either regular human criminals or compelled by-"_

"_Sarah, listen to me." Dad sat next to her on the couch, "We can't keep bringing her with us everywhere we go, she's eleven, we need to start teaching her how to fend for herself."_

"_Exactly! She's eleven! We can't just start leaving her here by herself! She's too young!" _

"_I'm not saying we just let her stay by herself just yet, we could just start training her to do so later on."_

_Mom crossed her arms stubbornly, "Well, I'd rather be training her to defend herself against vampires that very well know of her existence and knowledge of them."_

"_Well, what do you expect us to do then huh? Just keep going on like this? What happens when she turns sixteen? Or eighteen? Are you planning to continue training her during college?" His voice beginning to raise to a more angry tone._

"_You're being ridiculous! You know perfectly well what I mean, and you're just pissed because I'm not going to give in on this one! I won't risk losing my baby!" she screamed._

"_Well, if we keep treating her like she's still two she'll decide she's had enough and try and prove to us she's capable of taking care of herself! I don't want to lose her either, but keeping her in a plastic bubble may just prove more harmful the helpful." Dad's once angry voice calmed, "I don't want to have to find her bed empty, and then find her with her body empty of blood."_

_Dad slumped down back on the couch, putting his head back in exasperation. Mom seemed to calm down too and looked at him sympathetically as she ran her fingers through his black curls._

"_Adam, do you remember that time when you tried to teach Katy baseball?" she asked calmly._

_I was confused when I heard that and continued to listen closely._

"_Yeah." He said, not really paying attention._

"_Do you remember when she got tired after a while and wanted to quit, but you only had to tell her 'no' once? She kept playing." She thought for a second, "Sure she began throwing the ball lower and lower when she was up to pitch, but she stayed."_

_They laughed at the memory, I chuckled silently myself._

"_Yeah I remember." He smiled, but then his expression became confused, "What's your point?"_

"_Well, what did you learn that day?"_

"_I learned my daughter has wonderful hand-eye coordination." He stopped to recall for a minute, "Lucky for me and the-downstairs neighbors-her aim is pretty scruffy."_

_Mom laughed, "Yes, but you-or at least I- realized that she's not the type to disobey her parents-often, and even if she's forced to do something she'll do it."_

"_I'm not quite following Sarah."_

"_I'm saying she won't like it, but I have faith she'll obey us. And if she doesn't, well, we'll deal with it then."_

Mom may have been strict at times, but there were other times when I knew she loved me.

_The next memory had been after I got caught running. _

_I had been up in my room, trying to sleep, but it was difficult since I couldn't get Mom's angry face out of my mind. I always hated it when I made her like that, and that time had been no exception._

_Just then she walked into my room, her right hand clutching something unseen, and sat down next to me on my bed._

"_Can't you try to sleep honey?" she asked softly._

"_I tried, I'm still wired."_

_She nodded, "Look honey I'm sorry I yelled. But you can't do that anymore." She said the last part sternly._

"_I'm sorry." I whispered._

"_No, Katy, 'sorry' means you will never do it again- I've told you this. I'm not sorry about what I said, cause I'm not, but I am sorry about how it came out. I don't want to have to yell at you, I'm just scared, and that's a very prominent part of being a parent." Her face fell, and she seemed to be recalling a memory in her mind, "You know I love you right?"_

_I nodded, sitting up to hug her, "I know Mom. I love you too."_

_She hugged me back tightly, then pulled away and put something in my hand. When I looked I saw some midnight blue shaded Rosary beads, with a silver cross, in my hand. I looked up at Mom and she smiled._

"_I've had these for a few years now, one of the many in my collection. I want you to have them; maybe they'll help you feel better."_

_I smiled back at her, "Thanks Mom." I said, than wrapped the beads around the lamp on my nightstand._

As much as I knew she did care about me though, there had been instances when I doubted, or feared she stopped altogether.

_Before I was seven, I didn't used to have to go with them everywhere. We lived around Georgia for a while, and I was babysat by a woman named-Briana? Bridget? Bree? Ah well, it was so long ago I couldn't really remember._

_But when they were gone one day, some men in a white van tried to enter the house. The babysitter managed to get us out, and to a bar-from what I can remember, but when my parents found out they were pissed._

_I remember Dad's terrified look and Mom's rage-filled voice when they were told. After that we moved away to a small apartment in Atlanta. Mom had been very quiet since, and came her 'dark days' when she would lock herself in her room and not come out._

_I wasn't told until later, but her dark days were the marked days for her three miscarriages before I was born-that's one of the reasons she had trouble with her pregnancy with me._

_One night, on one of the dark days, I was crying in my room upset because I thought she hated me. My dad came in, hearing me, and asked what was wrong. I explained that I thought Mom was angry at me, and he told me she wasn't._

"_Katy, she's not mad at you. She's just upset right now; she really does love you very much."_

"_Then why won't she look at me?" I asked._

_Dad paused for a second, "I guess it's because… Maybe she's afraid that if she does look, you won't be there."_

That sentence still doesn't quite make sense to me, maybe Dad was hitting the happy sauce lately. Well, he was a lawyer.

_Normally, I would stay away from her on her dark days, but I felt like she'd been ignoring me for so long and I couldn't resist._

_I walked into her bedroom in the early hours of the morning (Dad had been sleeping on the couch), and tip-toed next to her while she lied down, her eyes open but almost lifeless. _

"_Mommy?" I said._

_She looked up at me, and then she started crying, I began to start crying a bit when I thought I'd done something wrong. I started backing out of the room when she grabbed my hand and pulled me into a tight hug._

_I hugged her back, confused but accepting, as I heard her continue to cry._

"_Mommy, did I do something to make you mad?" I asked her._

_I felt her shake her head, not letting me out of the hug, "No Katy, no." she pulled her onto the bed, laying me next to her as she continued to hug me, "I'm just scared honey. I thought somebody was going to take you away."_

_She calmed down, still sniffling though, "I love you so much Katy. I just can't lose you. I can't lose my baby."_

"_You won't lose me, Mommy. I promise." I said in a quiet voice._

_I looked up to see her smiling at me through tears, and I hugged her again. I vaguely remember hearing her mumble, "My little survivor."_

_And from then on, every time her dark days came around; she'd still lock herself in her room, but I'd always be with her, and she would never let me out of her arms._

That is until a few months ago of course.

I looked at the page sadly as I finished writing that last memory. There hadn't been an instant I didn't long for one of those dark days, to be held and know she wouldn't let me go.

"Hey!" I heard a voice say. I looked up to see Damon standing in the doorway, holding a football, "Catch."

He threw the ball towards me, I caught it and looked from it to him, "Baseball is more my game." I said.

"Oh well, it was worth a shot." He smirked.

"What's with the football?" I asked.

He took a step towards me with his arms crossed, "Thought we'd have some bonding time, Stefan's idea for the day."

"Yeah, right, what do you want?" I said sarcastically.

"Well, I thought you should know, since Stefan and I have decided to leave town you better start packing." He said, stunning me to no end, "Don't look at me like that, you're not coming with me. But you better start picking out what kind of family you wanna have, cause once you're packed in the morning and a little compulsion, you'll be out of Mystic Falls to begin a new life."

I felt my hands tense in anger, I may not have like the guy, but I had some issues with being tossed aside like an inconvenience, "Really?" I said with growing anger coming through my indifferent façade, "What about Sherriff Forbes? Aren't I not due to go for another four months?"

"Well, she won't know anything about it. As far as she'll know, you're a runaway and I've got business in another state with Stefan."

I clenched my jaw as I took in a deep breath before responding with, "Fine."

"Perfect!" He said walking out of the room, "Sleep tight! Got a busy day tomorrow!"

I rolled my eyes as I thought to myself; _I have officially lost any and all my guilt in spending his entire iTunes account on that very special playlist._

Speaking of which, after a minute or two, I began hearing a frustrated growl that followed a few seconds of "I whip my hair back and forth! I whip my hair back and forth! I whip my hair back and forth!"

I smiled evilly and villain laughed out loud. VLOL. Haha.

Praise the good Lord for the person who invented CD burning!

_***Next Morning***_

I had all my things packed and ready to go, which wasn't hard since I didn't really unpack to begin with, and headed towards the stairs of the house-overhearing a conversation between Damon and Stefan as I walked down.

"You don't have any friends, Damon."

"You're right Stefan, I only have you." I heard Damon reply, "So, where are we going?"

"_We _are not going anywhere. I'm gonna live _my _life, as far away from _you _as possible."

"But we're a team!" He exclaimed, "We could travel the _world_ together-We could try out for The Amazing Race!"

"I'd watch that." I chimed in.

Stefan remained slightly indifferent as he looked between me and Damon, "Hmm, that's funny." He turned back to Damon, "Seriously, where are you going cause we're not staying in this town."

"And where do you plan on dumping me?" I asked.

Just then the doorbell rang, we all looked at each other and slowly went off to see who it was-well, _they _did, I just slumped on the couch with my duffle bag around me.

"I'm here to see Damon." Said the voice of which I recognized as the Sherriff.

"Uh, sure, okay." Stefan replied, Damon following him to the door.

"Sherriff," Damon said, "What a surprise."

"Sorry to bother you but, we need to talk."

I leaned my head back in their direction to listen.

"Come in."

They stepped inside after, I quickly hid my duffle bag under the couch to avoid suspicion.

"Hey Katy," Sherriff greeted, "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"I'm waiting for the bus." I lied, turning my head in Stefan's direction, "We both are. Damon's car is on the fritz so he can't drive us there."

She nodded, "I see." Then she looked back to Damon who ushered her outside to the backyard.

I looked to Stefan who said, "I'm a little concerned by how quickly you came up with that, and also that you showed no tells or anything."

I nodded, "Yes, I know, clear signs of a violent sociopath. But don't worry Stefan; logically, you wouldn't be my first target." I smiled.

He shook his head, and sat down, clearly using his super-hearing to listen in on the conversation outside.

"What are they talking about?" I asked.

"Shh."

He seemed to be a little disturbed by whatever they were saying, but he wouldn't tell me since he was trying to concentrate, after a while I just started reading over my memory book.

Once Damon and Sherriff Forbes finished talking, they came back, though immediately heading straight for the door.

"Thank you for stopping by."

"Let me know if you come up with anything." She said walking out the door.

"Absolutely."

The second the door shut, Stefan sped over to Damon and slammed him against the door.

"What is wrong with you? You killed somebody?" He growled slightly.

"What?!" I exclaimed running over to them.

Damon pushed him off, "Get off me. A.) don't touch me." He said going past him. When he was hovering in my personal bubble, I stuck out my index finger and poked his arm, only to have him brush me off when I did (story of my life).

"B.) If I had, I wouldn't have been so obvious about it. C.)," He stopped and turned to both me and Stefan, "There's another vampire in town."

"That's impossible." Stefan responded.

"Obviously not."

I rolled my eyes, _Yeah Stefan, kind of a stupid assumption._

"Well then, who could it be?" he asked aloud.

"Oh well, what do we care? We're all leaving anyway right?" Damon turned to me, "Come on, Katy, let's go find you a GCWK to live with." He said not moving from his spot.

"No, I can't leave now, and you know that." Stefan said, his brow furrowed into an almost panicked expression, "How are we supposed to find this person?"

"Let the adults handle this Stefan."

"So what now?" I asked.

Damon looked at me and replied, "You are not going to school just yet. I need your help with something."

**Hey loyal reviewers! Thanks for sticking with me! Please tell me what you think, it's helps I've got the next chapter planned out, I just need to get it on paper and some reviews to help it get there!**

**Katy's Annoying Playlist:**

**Track 1: Whip My Hair by Willow Smith**

**Track 2: Barbie Girl by Aqua**

**Track 3: Blah Blah Blah by Ke$ha**

**Track 4: Imma Be by The Black Eyed Peas**

**Track 5: Friday by Rebecca Black**

**Track 6: Friday/Imma Be/Blah Blah Blah/Barbie Girl/Whip My Hair mash up by Katy Weston (Basically she took the more annoying parts and edited them into a ten minute song)**


	10. Turning Point

Chapter 9

Turning Point

_***Third Person's POV***_

"And you're sure it's not Damon?"

"Well, I'm never sure about Damon, but he has been trying to keep a low profile-especially with Katy put in his custody- so it just doesn't make any sense." Stefan replied.

Elena sighed, "So what are you going to do?"

"Damon and Katy are tracking them right now-"

"You left her alone with him?!" Elena said in an almost scared voice.

"I don't like it either. But I trust that he won't hurt her, at this point it's a matter of 'will she hurt _him_?'"

Elena was unsure and remained silent, Stefan continued, "Elena, trust _me_. I know my brother, and I know he won't let her stay around long enough for the possibility of hurting her to come. They already have enough animosity towards each to assure me of that."

She remained suspicious but was a bit more trusting now, "Okay."

"Look," He began, "I promised you the truth, so I wanted to tell you. I want you to be careful."

Elena nodded.

_***Katy's POV***_

"Alright, so what do I do with this piece of junk now anyway?" I asked, looking at the compass.

"Wait, I'll be there in a minute." He said over the phone (borrowed from Stefan).

"Okay, hurry up; some of us are getting old here."

"Hand it over girlie." He said, now behind me. I spun around to see him and looked at him with annoyance, handing him the compass.

"So that's it?"

"Yup." He said, not really paying attention.

I looked around the location we were at, "Why is it you vampires tend to choose warehouses? Why not just get a house like you and Stefan?"

"Because not all vampires have family members that passed down some houses." He said, "They use it to hide from the sun, or just to keep a low profile."

"Fine, well, I'll see ya." I turned to walk away.

"Bye."

I started walking away, but then after a minute or two I heard a sound that made me stop dead I n my tracks.

Gun shots. Coming from where I was leaving.

I turned around to look at the warehouse, and thought for a moment, _This is all a little too familiar to me. _I realized why and added, _No, oh God please not another one!_

And just like that, memories flashed before my eyes, of that dreadful night (both of them). It took me a minute to free myself of them, and I ran towards the door inside.

I opened the door just in time for another gun shot, and a scream from Damon.

_Good, _I thought, _He's in pain, means he's still breathing._

"That's what you get." The guy said, when he came into view I shimmied through a space between some shelves of-well whatever. I rushed towards the other end, to be met with a pile of bodies next to a chain-link fence.

I had to cover my mouth and nose for that one.

"For what?" Damon asked.

"You made me like this."

I rolled my eyes, _God Damon, really?_

"I killed you, I didn't turn you." He said, taking a bullet out, or from what I could see was a wooden bullet.

I started looking around where I was for something to use, unfortunately, all the wood was on the other side of the room-across Damon and poster boy for Vampire PMS.

As they talked, I started looking through the coat pockets of some of the bodies, holding my breath as much as I could. I finally found a pocket knife, and looked across the way to see a shovel with a wooden handle.

_Alright, I can work with this._

While they continued talking (or really, the other vampire kept bitching and moaning about life-or undeath or whatever), I started sneaking towards the end of the fence to see if I could sneak passed. I was just about to go, when the guy started to turn around, and Damon saw me when he wasn't looking at him.

"Wait a minute." Damon said, getting the other guy's attention again, "The cops only found one body."

"I left one, I was tired." He explained, as I started rushing passed him quietly, "They're right back there."

I was halfway across when he started pointing to where I had been, I almost raced to the other side in panic.

"They're just piling up." Than he looked behind him at the bodies, smiling, as if proud of it-probably was.

I made to the other side, just in time, and let out a sigh. I stayed quiet for a minute to make sure I wasn't noticed, than slowly walked over to the shovel. I quietly placed it on its side, the wooden end in my lap (God that didn't sound right), and began using the knife to sharpen up the end.

"Why am I so overly emotional?" He asked, "All I can think about is my ex-girlfriend-"

Yeah, I kind of tuned him out after that; he just got really annoying-even for me.

I continued to sharpen the end, but it was taking longer than I expected, which was beginning to concern me when I heard an angrily growled "How do you walk in the sun?"

I looked up to see the guy starting to get more threatening, and I started sharpen faster and faster, not caring if they heard me. But they seemed too invested in their conversation at the moment.

"You know I've been really nice so far, but I _will _kill you." He said holding up the gun.

"Then you'll never know." Damon countered, standing up, "You're not answering my question."

"You first!"

I had just finished with the shovel, and started to come out into the open.

"Seems we're at a bit of an impasse then doesn't it?" His eyes flickered toward me for a second as I snuck up towards the guy.

"I have things to do, people to kill. I guess I'll just be adding one more to the list." He held up the gun, and I wacked him on the head with the shovel part just when he shot Damon.

It didn't miss him, but it sure missed the heart, which was all I needed to know. Once the other guy was down I attempted to switch to the stake-made end and stab but he sped away before I could-leaving me to fall forward as I accidentally dropped the heavy shovel from imbalance.

"Ouch." I said uncaringly as I got up.

I ran over to Damon who was pulling out the more recent bullets from his body.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Logan Fell, news guy for Mystic Falls, ex-council member, and newly turned vampire. AH!" He said pulling the last wooden bullet out.

I sighed, _This is the dumbest idea ever_, and held out my wrist to him.

"Do it before I change my mind."

He looked at my wrist for a second and laughed slightly shaking his head, "You're useless if you don't, now just suck it up, literally."

He pushed my hand away and started to stand up.

I looked at my wrist and back to him, "Should I be offended or relieved?"

"You're twelve; you're too small to do any good even if I did drink." He said.

"Oh, so offended then."

I stood up too and walked towards the doors, keeping a slow pace so he could keep up.

_***Third Person's POV***_

_Boarding House_

"Logan Fell is a vampire, and when I find him again, I am going to destroy him limb by limb." Damon said angrily into phone.

"What happened are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay." He said, changing out of his shirt, "I was ambushed, I was shot. Now I'm vengeful, I just gotta find him."

Just then Katy walked into the room with a crystal glass from the bar in her hand. Damon went over to get another shirt from the closet.

"Well, there's no need, he's here at the school." Stefan said.

"You're kidding me, why the hell is he there?" Damon growled.

"He's working the crowd."

"Well, I'll be right there." He hung up and walked over to Katy and practically ripped the glass from her hands, taking a big gulp.

He looked at it approvingly and then turned to her, "This is good, what'd you do to it?"

"I put a shot of bourbon in there with the blood."

He smirked, taking another drink, "I approve. Figured you'd get on my good side huh?"

"Well, we've both had a rough day, and this is just one more thing you owe me for so yeah." She smirked back smugly, backing out of the room.

"Katy." Damon said, drawing her back into the room, "Why did you save me?"

She paused for a minute, seeming to be carefully choosing her words.

"I killed your Godmother, and I'm definitely not the nicest guy out there, so why didn't you just leave it?"

Katy took a deep breath, "Because when I heard the gunshots, I thought to myself, _not another one_."

Damon looked at her with a confused look, nodding for her to continue.

"And you may be the asshole with a drinking problem and _way _too much fashion sense to _not _be overcompensating. But I can't deal with another death right now, and if I can stop it I will."

She looked him straight in the eyes as she added, "Even if it is _you_."

He nodded, getting adjusting the collar of the shirt, and walking passed her out the door. When she didn't budge, he stopped in his tracks and turned around to look at her.

"Stay inside okay? Use one of those stakes I know you made."

She turned to look at him but already left.

**Thanks for the reviews! Please keep them coming, any comment is appreciated!**

**And for those Damon fans, yes I purposely kept the shirt off for a little but just for you. VLOL**

**Looks like Damon and Katy are beginning to develop that bond huh? Review your thoughts on that please!**


	11. Blood & Tears

Chapter 10

Blood and Tears

Sirens.

That's the sound that echoed in ears as I hold my mother's cold hand.

"Ah!" I shriek quietly as I inhale in a strangled breath when my eyes snap open.

Of course I would always wake up.

I took a few short breaths to calm down, wiping stray tears from my eyes as I did so. I had never had that dream-nightmare- before then, and it had always been too focused on to be suppressed into my subconscious, maybe it had been because I was thinking about memories recently.

I considered writing it in my memory book, but decided against it, I'd happily forget _that_ memory if I could.

I ran my hands through my tangled hair as I tried to put it out of my mind, but as always, trying _not_ to think about something will only make it clearer.

As it played over and over again in my mind I felt the water-works returning, and held my breath for as long as I could to keep from crying out. When I released my breath I still felt my eyes getting wetter, and when I felt a tear start forming from trying to blink away tears I'd had enough.

I practically sprung out from under my bed and ran straight for the door. I ran down the hallway, down the stairs, and ran for the front door not caring whether or not it was dark,

_I DARE Logan to mess with me, _I thought, _I DOUBLE DARE that whiner!_

Anyway, as I started to run past the driveway, I got blinded by headlights and fell backwards.

I heard a car door slam and steps coming towards me, I looked up to see t was Elena and got up, attempting to avoid talking and to try and run off.

"Katy? What are you doing here?" she asked, seeming to be upset by something.

"I live here." I said, trying to keep my voice steady, which got easier with time.

"No, I mean, here, in the driveway. What's going on?"

"Nothing." I choked, remembering my predicament.

She gave me a look and replied, "It doesn't look like nothing to me. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." I deadpanned.

She nodded, "Okay, are you going somewhere?"

I nodded, she continued, "Where?"

"Anywhere, I just need to move."

She looked from me and back to the house and seemed to consider something in her head, "Look, you can't be out by yourself, what with Logan out there. If you want you can stay at my place if you can't be here."

I gave her a weird look and replied, "Why would you do that?"

It was weird to me, I barely knew this woman, and unless I had yet another hidden non-relative on standby, she had no reason to assume any responsibility role.

"Because I lost my parents too, and you could use some help."

I raised a mental eyebrow, _has she been talking to Ms. Lark lately?_

I looked at the house and thought about it, it didn't seem to be any different to me, both weren't my home.

I shrugged and climbed into the backseat, not bothering to put on a seatbelt. Elena got into the car too and started driving, she looked at me for a minute as if she were about to say something, but seemed to decide against it-which suited me just fine.

I began thinking about my old house, my little white house with the white rosebuds in front, surrounded by dozens of other houses that were painted the same color and had the same model.

I tried picturing the house in my mind, wishing at the same time I had my memory book with me. I looked up through the front window, only to be greeted by a person coming closer at a fast speed,

And the sensation of being thrown forward.

_***Third Person's POV***_

Elena coughed a strangled breath, having slight trouble breathing-what being suspended up-side down and being held up by a seatbelt. She looked around, looking to both see if Katy was alright and what had become of the man she hit.

She looked to her left and some him, but the strange thing was, he was walking towards her.

She attempted to unlatch her seatbelt, getting more and more terrified as the man walked towards her. When she couldn't free herself, she looked to see him bending down towards her and screamed.

Suddenly, the man sped away from her so far she couldn't see him in a second. She relaxed, but was once again startled by Damon's presence.

"Ah!"

"How ya doin' there?" he asked, looking around the car to see what he could do.

"Damon?"

"You're stuck." He said absentmindedly, beginning to stand up and get things together.

"It's my seatbelt, and Ka-" she began hysterically.

He calmly shh-ed her and replied, "I'm gonna getcha out of here. Now I need you to put your hands on the roof-" he waited for her to do so, "one. Two. Three." Then ripped open the seatbelt.

Damon slowly pulled her from the wreckage, holding her in his arms when she was out.

"Are you okay? Can you stand? Is anything broken?" he asked her, but she only shook her head weakly.

He tried to stand her up, but she only feel backwards, luckily with him catching her.

"You're fading fast," He muttered, "Elena, look at me, focus, look at me."

She weakly opened her eyes slightly and muttered, "I look like her." And fell unconscious.

Damon scooped her up in his arms and started to carry her off, but then saw Katy.

She was unconscious too, on the road, and had her face on the ground with a pool of blood beginning to form near her head.

**Cliffhanger! Next one is planned, but not yet written, this was just filler for now. Review please.**


	12. Savior

**WE'VE PASSED THE NUMBER 10!**

**Well, since we've now gotten up to the 11****th****/12****th**** chapter in this story/series I want to thank all those on FF who've supported this Story :D**

**Special Thanks to** **ILoveYou1978,** **Tvdlover87654,** **anonymous1397, NightlyLexie, Aphroditethatsme, ** **NightlyLexie, Truly1OfAKind, TANYA, raven, OriginalGirl, NIGHTANGEL21, Kira Tsumi, , CantGuessThis, Kiari Salvatore, Annie L. Kiro, Alison M. Peters for all your wonderful reviews! I love reading them, and I'm grateful for all the wonderful compliments you're all too kind! :D**

**Special Thanks to ISgrl15, anonymous1397, Aphroditethatsme, Vampire Lover Forever123, brightcat12, Dame-Of-The-Living-Dead, ElenaZoylaSmith, EmmaStylinson-Malfoy, ILoveYou1978, It' , Paris101, salvatoresister887, splash1998, stargirl276, StarReader2009, The Charmed Rose for putting this story on their favorites list! I hope you all enjoy coming updates in the future! :D**

**Special Thanks to brightcat12,** **Vampire Lover Forever123, CandyMe21, Elena Spath, ILoveYou1978, It' , Jen2626, kate takes no shit, Kira Tsumi, MischiefManaged8, salvatoresister887, SonnyC88, Tvdlover87654 for putting this story on your alerts lists! Thanks so much and I hope you love every update that comes out from me! :D**

**I also have a riddle for you to figure out the next story ark: **

_**Faces are faces**_

_**They are different and individual to each person**_

_**But what if three faces were one, two yet unknown traces**_

_**Two shuffled off their mortal coil but one still walks in the sun**_

_**Sins of the mothers will test all their trust**_

_**Into chaos and confusion we are thrust**_

_**To settle scores and debts in this bloody auction**_

_**And ask "Why are two faces now separate worth the price of one?"**_

Chapter 11

Savior

_***Third Person's POV***_

Damon gently placed Elena on the ground, and sped over to Katy, turning her on her back and revealing just how bad her condition was.

There was a huge gash around her hairline, her face was scratched up with glass, her mother's vervain ring tangled and matted in her blood-soaked hair.

But worst of all, her eyes were filled with glass and bleeding heavily.

With all the blood, Damon was _very _tempted to finish her off, but the smell of vervain from the ring helped him calm down-along with his years of learning self-control.

Even with his vampire hearing, he had to concentrate on hearing her heartbeat-which was fading to almost a stop. He knew she had little to no time left.

With quick speed, he started using CPR to pump her heart back into some kind of motion, then bit his wrist and shoved the wound into her mouth. She of course made no movement, but Damon pinched her nose and sat her up until the blood slid down her throat.

He saw the wounds beginning to heal, quickly plucked the glass from her eyes so they could heal, and twisted her wrist back in place when he saw it wasn't.

He saw her begin to breathe and relaxed as he heard her heart beat faster until it was at a normal pace.

Damon looked from Katy to Elena and sighed, "What am I going to do with you two?"

_***Katy's POV***_

_I was walking down a long dark hallway, it was damn near impossible to see anything and the only thing I could vaguely see were mirrors on the walls beside me-but I couldn't really see into them when I looked, I only saw a vague outline of what was probably just my own reflection._

_Needless to say, this place was giving me the creeps so I sped up my pace down the hallway._

_I got towards the end of the hallway, seeing a dark worn out old door in front of me. I looked around, and seeing as there wasn't anywhere else to go I opened the door and went inside._

_When I got inside, I saw an old library, filled with probably millions upon millions upon millions of books and documents. _

_The room was perfectly lit for reading, but the room itself was messy and unorganized, almost like everything was shoved in without care._

_I walked over to some of the papers sitting on the empty librarian's desk. I sorted through, though it was somehow very hard to read, like the words on the paper were becoming blurrier whenever I tried to read them._

_I came to a picture of a house, and upon closer inspection, saw it was MY house!_

_Well, it was one of them at the very least, not the one I lived in when my parents died, but it was an older home of mine that we had when I was about six or seven. I put the picture aside and looked through the files for anymore, sure enough there was._

_It looked like a crayon drawing, like something a young child had made, of a white van-nothing else just a white van. Not thinking much of it, I tossed it aside and continued looking for more._

_I found three more pictures, this time of people._

_The first one I saw was a woman in old-fashioned dress, I couldn't pin-point how old but it was definitely around the medieval time._

_She had long dark-shaded chestnut hair, coppery brown eyes, and insanely pale skin. She wore a long emerald dress lined with gold, and sat regally on a red velvet bench. She was posed and painted like a Mona-Lisa-like painting, but something about this painting gave me a feeling of fear and slight panic._

_The second one was also of a woman, but this time she appeared to be from a time long after the first, probably around the Victorian era I thought._

_She had blonde highlighted red curls, lovely translucent skin, and round silver/grey eyes. She had a long white hoop-skirted dress, which was decorated with blue-lined ruffles at the skirt, and a dark blue sash that surrounded her shoulders._

_When I touched the picture I felt a surge of depression run through me, slowly, as if taking its sweet time to make me feel every drop._

_The third picture was of a child, around eight maybe, with the same red/blonde curls as the woman in the last picture (same skin too actually), but she had more dark grey eyes then silver. The child seemed happy as can be, but I felt the same surge of sadness and loss like I felt with the other picture._

_The picture of the second woman fell from my hands, and just before it drifted to the ground it became a book and slammed to the ground._

_I let the other two pictures slip from my hands, forgetting them almost instantly, and bent down to pick up the old-looking book. I opened it, and my dream-self appeared to be reading it with interest, although I could not see what I was reading. Suddenly, I was just about to turn to the last page, but when I did it began to pour out blood from the crease and onto the floor._

_Before I could react, the blood was gone, and the page was empty-of both writing and blood._

_I stood up and walked back towards the door I came in, continuing to look at the book in awe, and opened the door. I took one step out the door and suddenly the dark hallway lit up, revealing the many mirrors that held several different women screaming and banging on the glass._

_I turned to try and retreat back to the library but saw the room was in flames!_

_I turned back around to run past the mirrors, but as I began running I heard them hissing incoherent things to me all at once, and I began crying and tried to cover my ears to block them out. The more I tried to block them out the louder they became, and I could only make out one voice screaming "Return our secrets! Return our secrets!"_

_I looked around and saw them all slam against the glass so hard it shattered, but they still seemed to be pounding their fists against something, like an invisible barrier between them and the hallway._

_I looked at all these women, all seemed to be unknown to me but also familiar, and then I saw the woman from the first painting in one of these 'mirrors'._

_I kept trying to block out their angry voices, but nothing seemed to work, then I felt the book slip out from under my arm and begin to fall to the ground._

"_The book! The book!" One of them shouted._

_When the book crashed the floor it sounded like a bomb went off-_

"AH!" I awoke with a shriek.

My breathing was fast and heavy, I felt like I had been wacked by a ton of bricks. But what freaked me most was that my sight wasn't right, I couldn't see!

I tried blinking, but I only felt tears in my eyes well up and an ache whenever I did.

"Katy what's wrong?!" I heard a voice say.

"Elena? Where are you?" I asked frantically.

"I-I'm right here." I felt a hand on my shoulder, "Katy calm down-"

"I will not calm down! I can't see!" I screamed, "What's going on?!"

I felt a jolt around me and I squeaked in surprise, still shaking slightly.

"Hey girlie! Calm down and hold still okay?" said the voice of Damon.

I tried to stay still but it was hard with all the adrenaline still pumping through me. I felt a hand move my chin in a certain direction, and another holding my head still.

"You have some blood in your eyes." I took in a strangled breath on that one, and then felt some kind of liquid being poured into my eyes.

I tried to jump back, but the hand from before kept me in place, and then I felt something like a damp cloth wipe around my now closed eyes. After a minute or two, the hand released my head and the cloth was removed from my face.

I blinked a few times, at first just seeing blur but then began to regain my vision. I relaxed after as I took in where I was, which Damon's car was apparently.

I was in the cramped back seat lying on a dark-colored blanket that had dry dark stains on it, and when I looked down at my jeans, shirt, and hands I saw dried blood on them.

I scratched my head, which began to itch, and found it felt sticky and matted. I looked at a piece of my hair and saw dried blood in it also.

When I looked for the source of the blood, I found no wound or anything, but that didn't make any sense seeing as I began to remember being through forward through a-

"You gave me vampire blood?" I demanded, looking at Damon.

"Yup, you're welcome."

I felt my lip curl in anger, just begging to spit out as many swear words my twelve-year-old brain knew.

My mom had made me promise when I was young, that I would never take vampire blood. She told me it was dangerous and that if I did it would mess with my head. I suppose she was vaguely referring to the Lexi situation then, but regardless, she made me promise.

But as soon as the anger came, it disappeared; I realized Damon probably wouldn't have given me blood if he hadn't thought there was a need.

_Probably didn't want to have to deal with Sheriff Forbes, _I thought.

I looked out the car to see where we were and saw some unfamiliar looking places; I turned to Damon and Elena asking, "Where are we?"

"Georgia." Damon answered, seeming to be almost bored.

"Why?"

"Because I have some errands to run."

"In Georgia?"

"Yes, are you always this redundant?" he smirked.

"Yes, I'd ask if you're always this much of an ass, but I need not bother on that one." I smirked back.

I saw the damp cloth (which turned out be a hand towel) and took it to try and get some of the blood out of my hair.

"How did you manage not to eat me in my sleep?" I asked, referring to my blood-soaked state.

"A mixture of self-control, rolling the windows down, and not to mention your little ring mixing with the available blood-_so _not appetizing."

I starteded running my fingers through my hair until I found my mom's ring, tangled just as he said in my hair. I sighed with relief and began untangling it,

"Thanks. For everything." I said, rather reluctantly, than continued to my task.

"You're welcome." He said nonchalantly.

For the next few minutes it was silent, until Elena spoke.

"So where's my car?"

"I pulled it off on the side of the road. I don't think anyone with bother it."

"What about that man in the road?" At this time I began to actually listen to them, seeing as I was curious myself, "Was he a-"

"From what I could tell. Yeah."

"Fantastic." I muttered.

"You didn't know him?" she asked.

"I never met him, wouldn't know him. I mean, it's not like we all hang out together at the 'Vamp Bar and Grill'." He joked.

"I think she was referencing the fact your 'kill 'em all' attitudes are a little too similar Mrs. White."

He smirked, "If that were true young Watson, you wouldn't have been able to make that reference."

Just then we pulled up in front of a bar, one that looked rather familiar to me as I looked at it.

"You brought us to a bar?" Elena asked rhetorically, "Damon, I'm not old enough and neither is Katy, they won't let us in."

"Sure they will." He said walking towards the doors.

"Uh, Sherlock." I started shifting my hand over my head to reference my height, "she's got a point."

He ignored me without even turning around and continued inside, with me and Elena following.

_Boy, would Terrance have a field day with this, _I thought.

We walked inside the bar, and were immediately greeted by a woman at tending bar, who _also _looked very familiar to me.

"Damon?" she literally jumped over the bar and went over to him, "My honeypie."

And as cruel irony would have it, I began to miss my inability to see when they started making out in front of the entire bar.

You never again see a twelve-year-old do a better impression of Blind Mag's last performance.

_***Couple minutes later***_

"Listen up everybody! Here's to the man that broke my heart, crushed my soul, destroyed my life, and ruined any and all chances of happiness." The woman, Bree, said with a smile on her face as she poured shots.

"Or what Damon would call a Tuesday night." I said aloud, smirking.

Bree seemed amused, and took her shot. She looked at me for a second and smiled, "The littlest Weston girl. Second only to your father. I didn't think I'd see you around here again."

I gave her a confused look, "We've met?"

"Well, I did babysit you once or twice. Colleagues with your parents."

And then it hit me! "Oh right! When I was seven, just before we moved from here! You bought some blood from them."

"Yup."

"Wait," Elena interrupted, "bought what?"

"Blood. Little business my folks ran for a while." I explained, "Vampires sometimes pay a little extra under the counter to bartenders who know about their-condition for a little kick in their drink. Turns out, they do hang out at the 'Vamp Bar and Grill'."

"I heard about them, sorry honey." Bree said sympathetically.

I took a breath and nodded, "Thanks."

She nodded back and then turned to Elena, "So how'd he rope you in?"

"I'm not roped in, actually I'm dating his-"

"Honey, if you're not roped, you're whipped. Either way just enjoy the ride."

Elena seemed to have wisely retracted herself from getting into _that _topic and tried to change the subject, "Okay. So how did you guys meet?"

"College." She laughed.

Both Elena and I looked at Damon with some shocked looks, "You went to college?" she asked.

"I've been on a college campus, yes." He replied.

"Good, otherwise that college deserves a refund." I said.

"About twenty years ago when I was a sweet young freshmen," Bree began, "I met _this _beautiful man, and I fell in love."

I quietly muffled a snort on that one.

"And then he told me about his little secret, made me love him even more. Cause, I had a little secret of my own, that I was dying to share with somebody."

Damon leaned over to Elena and I whispering, "She's a witch."

"Changed my world you know?" She said to Damon.

"I rocked your world." He replied smirking as usual.

_That's sweet, _I thought, _It's gonna scar what little is left of my childhood but sweet._

Then Bree made a comment that I _really _tried to tune out and I started murmuring to myself, "TMI. TMI. .TMI…"

"But mostly he's just a 'Walkway Joe'." She said.

"Now that's more accurate." I mumbled.

_***About an hour later***_

It turned out Bree lived only a block away from the bar, you could literally see it from there, and she allowed me to borrow some of her sweats to change out of my bloody clothes. Guess she didn't want any patrons getting anxious.

I ended up wearing some long black tie sweat pants that I needed to roll the ankles up on, and a fitted T-shirt that basically looked like a regular T-shirt on me.

When I had changed, I threw my old clothes in the trunk of Damon's car and went back inside where we ended up eating lunch and talking. Well, more like eating lunch and creating a verbal 'Vampires 101' book.

We went as far as to bring up the Wicked Bitch of the south. I still hadn't told anyone about her yet, it just didn't relevant since she was gone.

"Let's say I'm descended from Katherine, does that make me part vampire?" Elena asked.

"Vampire can't procreate." He said, "But we love to try."

I made a 'throwing up' gesture shook my head, "Thanks for that."

He smirked, "No, if you were related, that would mean Katherine would have to have had a child before she was turned."

"Did Stefan think he could use me to replace her?" she said disdainfully.

"It's kind of creepy if you ask me."

I nodded along with that statement, then she turned to me and asked, "And what about you? Why did your parents sell blood? Where did they even get it?"

"Where do you think they got it Elena?" Damon said snarkily.

I rolled my eyes the comment and Elena's horrified expression, "Not like that. We stole it from blood banks, hospitals, or just anywhere they had it on stock. Some do take it from themselves, but that's more of the vampire groupies crowd, so the vampires just take it straight from them."

"But why sell it at all? Isn't it dangerous?"

I gave her a look, "No, did I mention my parents died from a ripe old age of 37?" I rolled my eyes again, "Of course it is, but it pays really well. The dealers risk their lives and freedom to get them the blood, and in exchange the vampires compel some bank tellers to hand over one grand per bag. It's its own circle of life sort of thing."

She seemed to accept the answer and started pushing around the pickles on her plate. I kind of tuned those two out for a while and stared off into space, until I heard something about beer (Lord knows it sounded tempting to me) and looked to see Damon and Elena clinking together their bottles-God that shouldn't have sounded that way!

I gave them both a look this time and said, "I think I've just become a witness to a crime… Story of my life."

Bree shook her head at me, "Hey Katy, it's getting pretty dark soon and some of the guys around here get pretty rowdy. Why don't you go hang out at my place for a while, and I'll come get you when it's died down okay?"

I looked over to Damon with my best pouty-child-do-I-have-to look, to which he nodded to. I sighed and got down from my stool.

"I feel so degraded."

"Have fun at Auntie Bree's!" Damon sing-songed.

"Bite me!" I mimicked as I walked out.

_***Bree's House***_

I had been hanging out at Bree's for a long time, and I decided after a while to start looking around.

I had pretty much went through the tiny house about four to five times by then, and I ended up looking around the tiny office she had. I looked through the books on the self, looking for anything that looked interest to read, until I came to the bottom shelf and saw a cardboard box shoved in. After a bit of maneuvering I released the box from its tight corner and saw it was filled with some books, herbs, and talismans.

Obviously some witch stuff, I left alone the talismans and herbs but took a look at the books. And I just moved one heavy book aside and saw something I couldn't believe I was looking at.

The book from my dream!

I pulled it out slowly and carefully, brushing off some of the dust and opening the book to the first page. At the center of the page it was entitled _Clara _in perfect script.

I turned to the next page, but was a little confused seeing as a few pages seemed to have fallen or had been ripped out (Whoever this Clara chick was, she must have pissed someone off), but I read what I could read:

_-why?"_

"_You know perfectly well why, Kol." She had told me._

_I tugged on the piece of her hair I had been dangling between my fingers until she turned her face to me. I saw her building her walls back up, and I could only see the faintest trace of sadness before they came up._

_I had looked at her swollen stomach, glowing with health and promising new life, mercilessly teasing my self-control with its very being._

"_You know that is easily tended to." I told her, probably a bit too angrily._

_She attempted to look away from me, but I grabbed her chin and held it in place. She only sighed and told me how her husband was a good man, and that it was not just her child she carried._

_I had told her, "I wouldn't have to harm him, you know. He doesn't know of my tricks like you do."_

_She wouldn't respond and simply sat herself up from the grass, looking at her belly with her round silver eyes. I had had enough of this song and dance and finally asked her, "Why are you so set on resigning yourself? You have such a stubborn strength, more so than any woman around, why do you refuse to use it when needed?"_

_She turned to me, her jaw clenched and her eyes narrowing, she was ready for a fight. That stubbornness I loved and hated was back._

_I'll always remember her high regal voice when she replied, "Have you ever considered, it takes more of my stubborn strength to resign then to fight my circumstances?"_

"_No," I told her, my stubbornness matching her own, "I think you are simply too scared to use it."_

_She once again replied stubbornly, "I am not. You know I do not get scared so easily."_

"_That does not mean you aren't scared now my dear. You may boast about your strength to me all you like, because I know you truly have it, but do not lie to me and tell me you are not scared. I know that too, but why are you scared? Are you scared of what I am? What you could become?"_

_I had taken her hands as I said so, hoping to win her over, but she tore her hands away from mine._

"_I think you are not considering the future of your own offer. It's not just our future you change if I agree and" she seemed almost hesitant to continue, "if I end up turning. It's not just our lives, it's my child's life too."_

"_We could change your child too, when he's old enough." I told her, though I knew why that couldn't be, but I never thought about the other reason why we couldn't the reason she brought up._

"_And what if he wants a child? And that child's kin? And their kin, and their kin? One after another they will die, and I am alive?"_

_Her finally came down, but they revealed such sadness in her eyes._

"_Children bury their parents, that is how it should be. I have resigned myself to many things Kol, but I shall not resign myself to eternal torture, by watching countless generations of mine die before my eyes over and over. There is your reason why Kol."_

_I know she's right, but she promised her heart to me before that child came to me. I was the one who saved her from that husband whom she carries that child for. _

_She owes me her love, why does she refuse me so?_

I looked up that first page, just looking off into space for a moment or two.

"Wow." I said, and then took the book back to the living room and read on.

_***Third Person's POV***_

It had been hours since Bree had sent Katy to her house. She felt guilty about making that call, but she had been pushing it aside, but now she drank more than her fill when she couldn't push anymore.

She didn't really know what she would tell Katy when she got home, but after hearing what happened to her from Lexi she wasn't going to let that child witness anymore of this.

She sighed and turned to leave and think about what she would say, when she came face to face with Damon.

"We were just leaving, I wanted to say goodbye." He said, "I'll pick up Katy on my way out."

Bree paused, trying to hide her fear and grief but couldn't, "Tell her I said bye. Good to see you again Damon."

"No kiss?"

Bree tried to regain her confidence, "I'm full of vervain, I put it in everything I drink."

"And you're telling me this why?"

"Lexi was my friend! Katy's Godmother! How could you?" She turned to try and get out but Damon sped in front of her, angry.

She said the only thing that she thought would save her, "The tomb can be opened."

He looked at her for a minute and replied angrily, "You're lying!"

"Emily's grimoire! Her spellbook!" she said quickly, "If you know how she closed the tomb, the reversal process will be in her book you can open that tomb!"

"And where is this book?" Damon said, backing her into a corner.

"I-I-"

"You have no idea."

"No, I am telling you the truth." She said desperately.

He looked at her a moment, "And I believe you." He said, gently touching her face.

"My dear sweet Bree, that's why I'm sorry." And he reached into her chest and pulled her heart out.

He had the vaguest look of sadness on his face when she fell to the ground, but it was gone as quick as it came. And with that, he washed the blood from his hands and grabbed his jacket as he left.

Damon had put the hung over Elena in the front seat, who was now resting quietly, and drove one block to Bree's house. When he arrived, he walked inside and was greeted by the sight of a sleeping Katy under the coffee table. He laughed slightly at the sight and bent down to get her.

He saw she had her face resting on an open book- or old journal from what it looked like, which he plucked out from under the table, and began trying to gently pull her out too.

His attempts stirred her half-awake and she groaned from the disturbance.

"Hey," He said quietly, "Come on, time to go."

"Where's Bree?" she asked, her eyes fluttering open and closed rapidly as she pulled herself out, though still lying on the ground.

"Still at the bar, she told me to say goodbye for her." Katy nodded slightly, but immediately fell back asleep on the floor.

Damon sighed and rolled his eyes slightly, picking up the sleeping child and leaving the book on the floor. He brought her outside and gently placed her in the backseat, even wadding up the blanket from earlier and putting it under her head.

He soon got back into the driver's seat and drove off.

_***A Few hours later***_

"So why did you bring me with you?" Elena asked.

"Well, you're not the worst company in the world Elena." She tilted her head at him as he added, "You should give yourself more credit."

"Seriously?"

"I don't know; you were on the road, all damsel-in-distress-like, and I knew it would piss off Stefan, and you're not the worst company in the world Elena."

They smiled at each other for a second, both appreciating the time they had as they thought about it.

"I used to be more fun." She stated, then seemed to fully realize something, "I saved your life."

"I know." Damon smirked.

"And don't you forget it." She smiled.

They went back to silence for a minute or two; as she looked in the backseat at Katy who had yet to wake up, she asked, "What about her?"

Damon looked to where she was looking and replied, "I saved her life too you know."

"No not that. I mean, what are you going to do? Are you gonna stay?" He smirked at her, twitching his eye in a flirtatious manner before she added, "For _her_?"

Once again he looked at the young girl in the back, his face was unreadable, and to make things more frustrating for Elena he didn't respond to her question. She sighed and turned to look out her window as they drove on.

When they returned to the Boarding House, Elena headed up to Stefan's room; Damon brought Katy up to her room and placed her on her bed as she continued sleeping soundlessly.

He closed her door behind him and started to head back to his car when his cellphone rang. He didn't recognize the number but answered anyway.

"Yeah?"

"Hello, I'm Toby Marshall, attorney with Gregory & Marshall Family and Property Law Firm. Is this Damon Salvatore?"

"Yeah, how'd you get this number?"

"Miss Branson gave me this number, she's made plans to adopt a Miss Katherine Weston, and I need to discuss some things with you."

"Why?"

"You're listed as the temporary primary caregiver of Miss Weston, legally I need you to come in, make a statement and sign a few documents to finalize the matter."

Damon paused for a minute, "Alright, look I'll call you back okay?"

"Sure, Lexi has my office number when you're ready to talk to me. Bye."

"Bye." He replied, hanging up afterwards.

He looked at his phone for a moment and sighed, he was definitely going to need a good bottle of bourbon before he got to some serious thinking.


	13. Grouping

**Hey reviewers sorry it's been so long since I've updated, but life has been kind of hectic, but it's getting better and hopefully I'll be able to write more often. **

**I'm also looking for someone to help me write these chapters because while I have everything planned out, I need help to make the basic stuff more entertaining because I feel like they could be much better and that's one of the reasons I haven't updated in a while.**

**So whoever wants to; PM me with your request (BTW you would be able to critique and suggest story themes plot points and maybe even a character based on yourself in the story) and I'll send you a small bit of the next chapter to critique and such, and if there is a multitude (though I doubt it) of people who would like to help me whichever one I like best will be chosen. You will of course get full credit for your part as the Editor and creative consultant in every chapter you have partaken in. Thank you :D**

**Thank you very much and I hope you enjoy this chapter an please review they help inspire me! I always read the reviews while writing. :D  
><strong>

Chapter 12  
>Grouping<p>

I awoke with a jolt just as I had before, once again holding my breath to keep quiet. While the experience during the dreams had gotten worse, when I was awake I began to feel emotionally numb.

After a minute of getting my breath back on track, I groggily walked over to the window and saw it was still well into the night, and began debating whether or not I wanted to go running again.

But when I got less groggy and my senses returned, I began thinking about the journal I found. According to what I read it seemed to be a love story, kind of like Romeo and Juliet vampire style, but I hadn't been able to read the ending to see.

So many questions raced through my head about that book: _Why did I dream about it? Why were some pages ripped out? Who was this Clara? Who was this Kol? What happened to them? Was it even a journal? Or just a story someone wrote? If so, did Bree write it?_

It crossed my mind to ask for Bree's number so I could talk to her about it, but I didn't want to start asking about a silly book that was probably harmless enough; honestly though, I just hated the idea that I might seem foolish.

I shook off the on-going questions, and decided it was probably just a story Bree wrote and placed with witch stuff since it involved vampires. But of course, the issue of how I dreamed about it kept nagging me.

Moving on; I headed downstairs for no particular reason, and as I started going down the stairs I felt the urge to start running again. But my only jacket was soaked in blood and it looked fairly cold outside to me, so to appease the anxious feeling I began running up and down the stairs about five times and continued until I heard Stefan walk up to me.

"Hey Katy, what are you doing up?" he said in a slightly tired tone as he walked towards the stairs.  
>I looked up from the bottom of the stairwell and replied, "I can't sleep. I thought I'd try to tire myself out." I lied smoothly, simply wanting to avoid talking at the moment. "But I think I'll go try again now."<p>

He seemed to accept that answer and walked off back to sleep, and I did as well, this time sleeping under my bed-which helped.

But what felt like seconds of sleep was all I got before the human alarm clock named Damon walked in.

"Hey girlie! Up and at 'em. You're gonna be late for the bus." He said, dropping my duffle-bag on the floor next to my face.  
>"EH!" I groaned loudly from the disturbance.<br>"Come on, I can't drive you today, no waiting around. You can go sleep on the bus ride-or class, whatever floats your boat."  
>"Fine, just get out now please!" I groaned.<br>"Gladly." He said walking out.

On the bus ride, I sat alone upfront by the driver, hoping to be undisturbed by anybody. That plan appeared to have backfired and I ended up being bored out of my skull. I guess it would only figure that'd happen once I tried to make an effort to rid myself of my schoolmates.

Sitting on a school bus is pretty tedious as it is, but my peers seemed to have telepathically decided that talking about me in loud whispers wasn't chicken enough for them; now they reduced themselves to giving me consistently judging looks whenever they caught my eye.

After my small attempt at entertaining myself by hissing at them had worn off, I finally noticed some cheerleaders behind me whispering loudly.

That was the highlight of the ride... Pray for my soul.

While I didn't want to pay attention, it was hard not to, especially when you keep hearing things like "She is really pale, maybe she's one too." Or "Well that's what Bianca told me!"

Yes, this is what passes for logic amongst my peers; if the girl who treats you like an inferior human being because you didn't start worshiping the ground she walked on, must be right about any and all comments about the new girl in school... Yeah, bite me.

What stood out though was that when I turned to look at them and they noticed, most of them would get these freaked out looks on their faces. It was the same face you'd give someone who you bluntly told you during lunch they were a cannibal.

So after I quickly got bored of them, I turned back to look in front of me and stare off into space, and I let my mind wander until it stuck to just thinking about the journal/story book again. And this time, I did try to think more in depth on it, but I was unsuccessful in finding any tangible theories.

Once we got to school, it kind of dragged on like school does, but I was noticing more and more looks from people-including some teachers. But I just brushed it off, telling myself it was probably just aftermath of my behavior in class on my first day.

Later on though, when lunch rolled around, I was pulled aside by Ms. Lark who had a rather stern look on her face. Curious about what caused the 25-year-old-hippie to look like she had just watched 'Batman and Robin', I followed her to one of the classrooms where Mr. Gregory and Principal Winthrop were. I also noticed Judy 'Dex' Moore, and a redheaded cheerleader I didn't recognize.

"Hi! I'm Joelle." She greeted me in an extremely cheerful voice, but a slightly shy smile.

_Is there some kind of universal law that requires all cheerleaders to be on eternal sugar-highs?_ I asked mentally.

Joelle was close to my age, she had fair skin, rosy cheeks, and thick red curls that reached just above her shoulders. She had light blue eyes that were round and very big-like an anime character, made to look bigger by her button nose and tiny pink lips.

Combined with her manner and joyful presence; this girl was the very definition of 'cute', she was like one of those cuddly rag dolls you can't help but want to hug.

Principal Winthrop gave a small twitch of her lips, which-I suppose-was her definition of a greeting, while Mr. Gregory and Ms. Lark both remained quite somber.

"Jeesh people, did you forget to take your meds today or something?"

All the teachers seemed to sigh in some kind of frustration, while Dex seemed to be doing her best not to laugh, and Joelle looked rather frightened like her peers on the bus. I looked around awkwardly; it had become clear to me that humor was not a learned subject in this school.

"Okay." I said, still feeling rather awkward, " So, what's with Lunch Time Intervention?"  
>"This is about the behavior of you three girls." Winthrop said in a voice that vaguely reminded me of Ms. Trunchble.<br>"Do you mean as a collective? Or are you referring to individual faults?" Dex asked.  
>"What?" Joelle asked, clearly confused by Dex's wording.<br>"We are referring to each girl's failing in school-form function." Mr. Gregory said.  
>"Slow down," Dex began mumbling, "I don't speak pretentious douche."<p>

I snorted at that one. Again though, humor was proven to have died from the looks at the teachers' faces.

Ms. Lark turned to look at both me and Dex saying, "Girls, I've been told by multiple teachers and students, that you were seen yesterday in possession of some kind of illegal substance."  
>"You mean drugs?" I asked, now kind of regretting the meds joke earlier.<br>Ms. Lark nodded, "Now I don't know for sure about you Katy, but I myself caught you Ms. Moore smoking a cigarette in the ladies' room."  
>All eyes turned to Dex as she replied, "That doesn't prove drug use, that proves tobacco useage-seriously, you're an educator?"<p>

I nodded to myself in response. Mr. Gregory chimed in, "Yes, but a thousand Frenchmen can't be wrong, and we've given you the benefit of the doubt Ms. Moore-too much in fact." He then turned to Joelle, "And while Ms. Silvermen has never been caught with any illegal substances, including tobacco, she has not managed to keep her grades as impeccable as Ms. Moore. And since Ms. Weston's suspected drug use is in question-along with her unquestionable inappropriate behavior, Principal Winthrop, Ms. Lark, and myself have decided the three of you shall be teaming up for extra credit after school everyday for the rest of the week."

"And once you've all put in the effort required for this week, you are may stop if you wish. However, if any of you continue the actions that brought you here or do not put in the proper amount of work, you are required for another week of earning extra credit." Said, Winthrop.  
>I groaned, but since I knew I wasn't getting out of this easily I asked, "Alright what would you like us to do?"<br>Once again Winthrop spoke, "As a whole, we are going to expect respectable behavior for both your teachers, and your classmates. You will all be cleaning the classrooms, and by Monday we expect you all the make one essay-the topic of which will be decided by Ms. Lark."

_Do these people think we have no lives?_ I thought, _And just assume we all own teleporters from Star Trek?_

"Can we all agree to that?" Ms. Lark asked, more as a statement then a question.  
>"Okay." Joelle agreed.<br>Ms. Lark then turned to me, I shrugged and replied quickly, "Whatever." and finally she turned to Dex who just nodded slightly.  
>"Then we are dismissed." Mr. Gregory said, clapping his hands together as he walked out of the room, followed by Ms. Lark.<p>

As we started to go out, I was stopped by Principal Winthrop.

"Ms. Weston, I'm aware you didn't attend cheer-leading practice today? Care to explain?" she asked.  
>"Actually, Damon Salvatore will explain it to you later." I said, attempting to get passed her but she stepped in front of me.<br>"It'd better be good."  
>"Not my business." I mumbled, having a fair idea of his excuse.<br>"What?"  
>"Nothing. Gotta go." I said scurrying out.<p>

The rest of the day had been just as dull and lifeless as before, but this time I managed to pick up some ideas why we (Joelle, Dex, and myself) were all put together.

And the conclusion I came up with-from what evidence I had- went something like this: I was the new troublemaker who set a bad example-or just got caught, Joelle was the failing student who needed a smart girl like Dex to help her, Dex was the druggie with wealthy parents so this was the closet she'd get to being expelled, and the school needed to find _some_ way to lower the minimum-wage janitorial expenses.

Later on, the three of us agreed to meet up at the Grill after school, it worked out for us all since Joelle had an two older brothers working there, and Dex lived only a few blocks away.

As I waited outside the school, Barbie's less successful sister walked over to me with her gang.

"So I hear you got caught huh?" she sneered.  
>"Doing what?" I said uncareingly.<br>"You know what."  
>"I didn't deny that, you just need to be more specific. Example: Was the color of your hair-dye Hoochie or Hoe?"<br>Bianca's mouth dropped to the floor until she replied, "I will have you know my hair is natural."  
>I rolled my eyes, "Then remind your eyebrows, they forgot."<br>"It is, the sun changed it but not my eyebrows!"  
>"Oh please, the smell of bleach is making me nauseous-oh wait that's just your face." I said.<p>

Alright alright, even I'll admit that was too bitchy for the situation, but I was just in a really bad mood that day.

"Wow, cliche much?" she said.  
>Though, just as I was about to respond, I heard the familiar voice of Damon going, "Hey! Girlie! Time to go!"<p>

I started off towards him when one of the girls asked, "Is that like your new dad?"  
>"Temporary roommate." I replied.<p>

I ran over to him afterwards and we headed towards the car, we hadn't spoken until I told Damon about meeting up with Joelle and Dex.

"So what did you do this time? Tell another authority figure to sh-"  
>"No, give me more credit, I have material outside of that. I just simply told a science teacher his facts were wrong, insulted a fourteen-year-old drug addict during that same class, and told said-teacher his birth was the product of an expired condom."<br>Damon chuckled slightly, "Is that all?"  
>"Did I mention they suspect me of doing drugs?"<br>"You've had a very productive day."  
>"And it looks like it's gonna continue on for a few more hours; can you drop me off at the Grill on the way back to the house? I can walk back to the house after we're done."<br>"Fine. Watch yourself though, that creeper vamp from last night is still out and about."  
>"I have my vervain ring, I'll be fine."<br>"That ring comes off you know." He said, matter-of-fact-ly.  
>"Yeah but-" I pulled out a stake from my duffle-bag, "This won't come out."<p>

He nodded as we finally got the car, "You're not doing drugs are you?"  
>I gave him a look and he put his hands up in a surrendering position, "Hey, not judging, just curious."<br>"Curiosity killed the cat."  
>"Among other things."<br>"You would know." I countered.  
>He looked me in the eye, "Touche." then he started the car and we drove off to the Grill.<p>

"Hey, why were you here to pick me up from school? I thought you couldn't drop me off?"  
>"Your Principal called, wanted the 'good explanation' to why you're refusing cheer-leading practice."<br>"What did you tell her?"  
>He smirked and said suggestively, "Let's just say it was good."<br>"Ewww! Please censor yourself around me! I didn't need to know that!" I said, covering my ears.  
>"Need I remind you of some of the things you say?"<br>"No, but I don't make them about people I see practically everyday." He gave me an amused look, "Most of the time."  
>Lucky for me the conversation ended there.<p>

When we arrived, Joelle and Dex were there first with a table, and after I snagged a twenty from Damon-who clearly had other things on his mind, seeing as he handed it over so easily, I walked over to them.

"Hi!" greeted Joelle, "I got the topic from Ms. Lark after school. She wants us to write a short story, we can choose the genre, but she says nothing too extravagant."

Students, make a note to yourself that when a teacher says 'extravagant' in that kind of sentence, they really mean 'nothing with dirty language, suggestion themes, or basically anything that has gotten/will get you a trip to their's or the principal's office'. But don't take my word for it, take Dex's.

"So no life stories huh?" she remarked, "So what's left to write?"  
>"Well," I sat down at the table, "Did they say it had to be an original story?"<br>Joelle took a moment to consider this, after her train of thought took it's course she smiled, "Nope. What did you have in mind?"  
>"Why don't we basically rewrite Twilight; make it better, so to speak-"<br>"No." Dex interrupted, "If we're gonna do this, let's do something that won't take five minutes."  
>"Well why not? I think we can all agree we want to just get this done."<br>"Yes, but I think we can also agree we want to turn in something credible. I can keep up my GPA all on my own, so I am not putting my name on something that's insulting to everyone's intelligence including Sally Sunshine over here." she gestured her head to Joelle.  
>"It is?" she said in a hurt puppy voice.<p>

I took a breath, "Alright, what do you suggest then?"

Dex suggested we pick a Star Trek fanfiction to write, seeing as the new movie had just come out on DVD and was actually good, so just the enjoyment of the movie managed to get us working together more smoothly. Unfortunately there were problems when decisions came around.

WARNING: A SHORT MONTAGE OF THE EVENING IS ABOUT TO OCCUR!

"Captain Jerold Hanning?" Joelle suggested.  
>"No self respected space captain would be named Jerold, nope, I refuse to accept that."<br>"Alright why don't we just name him Bob for now so we can move on?" I asked.  
>"Because we named like five other characters Bob." Joelle replied.<br>"Who?"  
>"Bob the protagonist, Bob the douche, Bob the red-shirt, Bob the love interest, and Bob the love interest's love interest." Dex said.<br>"Wait," Joelle started, "was Bob the love interest's love interest a boy or girl?"  
>"That's what we were trying to figure out." I said, "Bob has become both ambiguously gay and as straight as they come."<br>"Wait which Bob was this?" she asked.  
>"Bob the love interest. But seriously, Bob #5 is so overcompensating." Dex chimed in.<br>"And which Bob was Bob #5?"  
>"Oh for crying out loud!" I said exasperated with confusion, "Why don't we just make them both bisexual hermaphrodites? That could be the attraction!"<p>

They both paused.

"Eh, I don't know-" Dex started.  
>"Come on, are you saying that a love story between two bisexual hermaphrodites in space wouldn't turn your head?"<br>"It's not their love story," she said, "And yes it would turn my head, but I wouldn't try to have a full in-depth conversation about it."  
>"What if we make one Klingon and the other a Vulcan?" Joelle suggested happily.<br>"No that's too Cullen-Jacob-y." I said.  
>"But they aren't fighting over one person, it's their love story!" she defended.<br>"It's not their love story!"  
>"Well, what was the original plot again Dex?"<br>"I don't know I forgot! I'm so confused!"

So were the Grill's waiters who served us that evening and overheard bits and pieces of this story.

We grew friendlier towards each other throughout the afternoon, but our pacing for the story grew slower. Dex became more then just civil, and I found she was actually very funny as well as smart, and Joelle was just so nice-I wasn't even that annoyed about her (apparently) being one of Bianca's drones. She was actually afraid of being teamed up with me and Dex because of things Bianca told her, and also with some stuff she'd seen with Dex.

"So what did Bianca tell you?" Dex asked.  
>"She told all the girls that you and Katy were druggies together since Katy's parents were into it."<br>"Well, were did she even associate Dex and I to be even remotely friends?" I asked.  
>"She said she saw you with Dex and Terrance, and that you were taking a bottle of pills from him."<br>"That dang Terri!" I moaned in annoyance.

Both Dex and I assured her we were not dealing together-another sweet little anecdote Bianca threw in when she told their cheer-leading coach, and she even backed me up when she told Joelle my parents weren't into it and I was refusing the drugs offered. While Dex refused to comment on her own actions, she was very honest about my involvement.

Joelle was actually a decent human being as a contrast from Bianca, but she was rather ditsy unfortunately for her stereotype-but my God she was strong!

I found this out when she challenged me to an arm-wrestling match.  
>"Errr!" I groaned as we came to a standstill, "You weigh practically nothing! Why are you to strong?"<br>"I'm a cheerleader!" she said with a growl at the pressure, "We get up at 6 in the morning and work out all day! What did you think would happen?"  
>Dex laughed as she snacked on some peanuts as she watched us, "I can't tell if you're both really strong or equally weak."<br>"Haha." I laughed slightly, "Good Friends reference-"  
>"Ha!" Joelle said as she slammed my fist down, "I win!"<br>"Aw man! Come on I was caught off guard by humor! One more round! I wanna try again!" I complained.  
>"There is no try..." Dex said in her best Yoda voice.<p>

Needless to say that next round went the same way as the first. I'll always wonder if Dex was making funny references on purpose though.

We finally finished the rough draft for the essay/story, and even found a title "The Tale of Four Bobs! A Star Trek Parody!"-sadly, we had to make one of the love interest Bobs a girl or else we were gonna get crap from the school board against it's 'extravagance', so to speak. We named one of them Babette instead, but made it very clear she was a masculine looking Klingon woman as our own private joke.

And yes, as you probably guessed-like any normal person would-, the three us managed to become friends.

All thanks to a gossiping 12-year-old, a major root beer sugar high, and the epic love story of two bisexual hermaphrodites in space... Named Bob and Babette.

I walked back after we paid the bill and Spock-fived goodbye, feeling actually really happy, which was a rare feeling all things considered.

Upon entering the house I noticed two things: books thrown about all over the ground, and the fact that they made a vague trail to the library, which I followed. When I got to the library I saw Damon writing at the desk, surrounded by books.

"What happened here? Did Belle ransack the place while I was gone."  
>"Not your concern kid, unless you wanna help?" he asked nonchalantly, probably expecting a 'no'.<br>"Well how could I help if I can't know what you're doing?" I retorted.  
>"If you're gonna help kid, start by cleaning those books over there." he said, not looking up from his writing.<br>"No thanks, I'm not cleaning up your mess. When you're ready to tell me what you're doing, I'll be over here doing my homework."  
>"Great."<p>

After awhile I got bored of homework, so with my metaphorical tail between my legs, I started cleaning up the books. There were so many I had to go all the way back into the library to find room for them; I finished after a while, but on my way back I started to overhear a conversation between Stefan and Damon, so I decided to eavesdrop and hid behind one of the many rows of book shelves.

"And why would I want it?"  
>"Gee, I don't know Damon, maybe you wanna do a little Pops-missed-bonding (AN: Sorry guys, I watched that episode twelve times over and I still couldn't hear him)?" I held back a laugh on that and he continued, "Go ahead, read it, enjoy. I have, and no where in it does it say anything about Katherine, or the tomb, or how to open it?"

I listened closer as I heard Stefan's previous reply, confused as ever but still interested.

"Not surprised. Man could barely spell his own name." Damon replied with an edge of annoyance in his tone.  
>"I'm really sorry it won't be any help with your diabolical plan... The sequal."<p>

Must be a running joke in this house, I thought.

"You know I could help you." Stefan said.  
>"You help me? I don't know, seems a little, unnatural."<p>

I nodded to myself in agreement with Damon's statement.

"I'll do anything, to get you out of this town. Even release Katherine."  
>"What about the other 26 vampires?"<br>"No, they can't come, they have to stay put-but Katherine, I would consider that."

_Yeah you would_, I thought nodding my head, _Seriously though, I say if she actually was in that tomb-I would go out of my way to put a boulder outside the room she's locked in... Rot bitch._

Harsh: maybe, necessary: entirely.

"What are you doing? Hm? What's your angle?"  
>"Think about it."<br>"Why would I trust you?" Damon asked the same way he asked me abouot the books.  
>"See that's your problem Damon, you apply all your short-comings to everbody else. If history is any indication, there is only one liar among us."<p>

I thought to myself about that statement; while I had little respect for Damon as living-dead thing, I really couldn't recall him ever being dishonest, at least from what I could tell. He may have been a dick but he was an honest one, a rare comodety.

I stayed in my hiding spot a few more moments after I heard Stefan leave, that is before Damon called me out.

"You can come out now Katy, I know you're there."  
>I rolled my eyes and walked out, "How long have you known I was there."<br>"Whole time."  
>"So you don't mind that you know I heard basically everything?"<br>He looked up from the old book on the desk, "Maybe I do mind, what would you do with any of that information?"  
>"What will you do?" I asked.<p>

Literally saved by the bell, a phone went off just after I replied. We looked over to see Stefan's phone ringing, with Elena Gilbert blinking on the calling screen. I picked it up and threw it to Damon, "Go long!" and he caught it with ease, answering it.

"Stefan's phone, how may I help you?"  
>"Where is he?" I heard Elena on the other end.<br>"Oh, he's on his way to you. Forgot his phone."  
>"Oh, thank God. This compass was spinning, Stefan must be here. Thank you."<br>"You're welcome." and with that he hung up.

"Elena has the compass?" I asked.  
>"Yup. St. Stefan must have given it to her. Ain't that sweet." he said, walking back over to the desk.<br>"What are you planning to do with this tomb thing?" I asked, playing dumb.  
>"Why would you care?"<br>"Why wouldn't I?"  
>"Because it doesn't involve you."<br>I pulled a chair up right next to him and sat down, "Actually, you're wrong it does involve me. Because the second you leave, I will be either stuck back in an orphanage or placed with another family in town. Now personally, I would like a say in where I go, because I am sick and tired of being handed over to people and left like an inconvience!"

And with a final word I stomped out of the room and headed towards my room, my happy mood officially ruined, but I couldn't really place why this affected me so much. The orphanage was better then here, wasn't it?

***Third Person's POV***

Damon sat still a moment after Katy left, he took a breath and pulled out his own cell phone, and he began to dial Toby Marshall's number. However he was interrupted by a call from Elena.

"Missed me?" he answered.  
>"He got into the house." answered the voice of Stefan.<p>

Damon's face turned cold as he replied, "I'm on my way." and shut off the phone. He sped up to Katy's room and said, "Come on, grab a stake, creeper vamp made a move."

Without hesitation Katy grabbed a stake from her duffle-bag and followed Damon.


	14. Pleasantly Screwed

Chapter 13  
>Pleasantly Screwed… That Didn't Come Out Right<p>

"How'd he get in?" Damon asked Elena.  
>"He was invited in."<br>"Well dur." I said, "But how?"

Stefan answered, "He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night."  
>"Well he gets points for that."<p>

"It's a classic move." I said.

Damon looked at me intently and mimed zipping his lips, then turned back to Elena, "Did he say what he wanted?"  
>"No, he was too busy trying to kill me." She said, sounding slightly annoyed.<br>"And you have no idea who this is?"

Damon shrugged at Stefan, "No." then he caught a look of disbelief on his face, "Don't look at me like that, I _told _you we have company."  
>"You think there's more than one?" Elena asked in fear.<br>"We don't know."

I rolled my eyes, "Of course there are. Vampires are like ants, you never find _just one_."

Damon gave me a look and I mimed zipping my lips in mock innocence. We all sat in silence for moment, until Stefan chimed in, "Damon. He was _invited _in."

"Then we go get him tonight." I nodded to myself in agreement as he asked Elena, "You up for it?"

"What do I have to do?"

"Let your boyfriend take you to the dance, we'll… See who _shows up_."

"I take it that means I'm coming too?" I asked stepping closer to them.

"No, he's after Elena not you." Stefan said sternly, "Besides, it's a high school dance, you're staying put."

"No. She should be there, Jeremy will be there too he can watch her." She turned to Stefan, "It's better than having her be left here so he can get to her to get to us."

Damon took a deep breath, "Fine. She comes, but Emo Teen watches her."

"It's a bad idea." Stefan warned.

"Till we get him this house isn't safe, for _anyone_ who lives in it." He turned to Elena again, "It's worth a shot."

"I'll do it." She replied, continuing in a reassuring tone when she saw Stefan's face, "I'll be with the two of you. I'll be safe."

Everyone got a silent look of agreement on their face; if we didn't stop him tonight, this was only the beginning. But to me, it felt like it had begun a while ago.

Once we got to the dance, Elena clung to Stefan's arm for dear life, whilst Damon and I scanned for any suspicious characters. Then again they're almost all dressed as people from 'Pleasantville' maybe we should have found a new tact.

Suddenly, Damon started ushering me over to where a teenage boy was manning the punch table.

"Hey Jeremy. Do you remember me? I'm Damon." He said quickly.

Jeremy nodded, "Yeah, Stefan's brother." His eyes turned to me as I waved.

"Katy. Yes, I'm aware I'm twelve." I said, holding out my hand.

He smiled only slightly, "Jeremy." and shook my hand quickly.

I took a good look at him, "Nah, you look more like a Steve to me."

He gave me a weird look, but nonetheless smiled, probably scared to make any sudden moves around the crazy girl.

"Well, now that we're all friends, I have some chaperoning to do." Damon said, "Watch her."

Alright, alright here comes the obvious lame joke; I'm beginning to feel like I'm being watched.

With that, Damon left Steve and me to an awkward- but albeit brief- staring contest.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sit in the corner over there and mumble to myself." (A/N: Props to anyone who knows where that's from! May you have the BEST DAY EVER!)

So we ignored each other most of the time and I sat dutifully in my corner, looking around for the suspect.

Of course an obvious approach in this crowd, is generally to look for anyone dressed in dark colors-as they will stand out more, and this dumbass I'm assuming didn't comprehend that. However, at a high school dance there is generally five to ten teens dressed in dark colors, who show up at this kind of party to prove how 'cool' they are.

Side note: as I've noticed, these groups tend to be made up of wide-eyed freshmen and sophomores trying to get in with the 'rebels' and just a few seniors who are so shnockered at this point they're telling people they're Batman and think they're believed.

So when my attempt to find this guy was proven bleak, I started looking around for anyone I recognized to see how their night was going.

I managed to spot Damon who was approaching two girls, one was Bonnie and the other was the blonde girl from the party when-well, you know.

"Hey Bonnie." He greeted, his wide smiled battling with her look of disdain, "Wanna dance?"

_That was quick, _I thought, _Well I have to admit he gets to the point._

"I'm outta here." She said, starting to retreat but was stopped by Damon.

He tried to look charming and asked for 'another chance', whatever that means, and was met with a harsh glare before she finally left. He turned to the blonde who told him to back off and stomped off after Bonnie before he could wink.

"Where did they go?" Elena asked as she and Stefan walked up to him.

He shrugged, "I don't know."

Stefan seemed to mimic his shrug and asked, "What did you say to 'em?"

"I was perfectly polite." He turned to Elena, "Elena, would _you _like to dance?"

_Wow, pretty ballsy for a guy hitting on a girl whose right next to her boyfriend-who is also your brother mind you._

"I would love to." She smiled sweetly, then turned to Stefan, "May I have this dance?

_Owned._

I smiled and walked up to Damon as they walked off, "Three in under a minute." I said referring to my wrist, "I'm so proud!"

"I thought I told Jeremy to watch you."

I gave him a look, "Yes Damon, because in all this time you've known me, I just _really _seem like the kind of kid to go and sit in a punch corner at a dance."

"As a matter of fact, you do." He said, smirking.

I snorted and we quietly watched the dance floor for a bit.

"So you and Stefan are helping each other now?"

"Why do you ask? Trying to get an excuse to break out the milk and cookies?"

"Okay, when in the entire time you've known me have you _actually _seen me eat a cookie?"

"So you'd reject a cookie if I offered one?" he smirked.

I paused and said with defeat, "No." I smiled a little bit-which was the most I'd come to laughter- and I could almost swear I saw him twitch into a smile slightly before he went stone-faced.

"What is your plan? At least, what do you plan on doing with me?" I asked finally.

Damon didn't answer but looked at me for a moment before having a thoughtful look on his face.

"I've already told you that I want a say in where I go. So why don't you tell me your plan so I can reject it and come up with my own." I said the last part as more of a command.

"Miss the orphanage that much huh?"

"No."

"Hate your school that much?"

"It's getting better."

"Hate _me _that much?" he asked, not looking at me now.

"I have an intense _burning _indifference."

"Then _why _are you so keen to go?" He asked, now looking at me with a look that said 'You're being stupid and we both know it.'

I paused. With all that in mind, I really couldn't conjure up a reason, at least one that mattered to me.

He doesn't like me: Sure, but at least neither of us has killed each other, in fact he saved my life.

You're only a prop to this town until they get better evidence of vampires: When was I _not _a prop when it comes to vampires? Next.

He's psycho: Not so much anymore, but he's honest and he doesn't sugarcoat. I think this is really the first time an adult has been straight out with me. What a breath of fresh air.

He killed Lexi: …

That was where I couldn't find a contradiction, nothing he had done had actually made up for that; he never apologized, showed any remorse, or did anything that suggested he was trying to make up for it.

And yet, that didn't seem to register in my mind. For some twisted reason, it didn't seem to be an actual factor in why I didn't want to be here.

That thought scared me, for many reasons: _Is this part of some compulsion? Or _worse, _do I just not miss Lexi?!_

Surely if his killing her in cold blood had _no _impact on my reason for wanting to leave, I must not have cared enough! I should be making plans to stake this bastard, or hand him over to the authorities in some way! Why am I not upset?!

Why do I feel complete apathy towards this fact?

The more I thought on it the more it freaked me out-more precisely, scared me.

"I need to go to the bathroom." I said quickly, rushing away.

Once I got to the bathroom, I turned on one of the sinks and splashed a little water on my face. It did well to cool me down, but did nothing by way of fixing anything.

I took a deep breath and then walked back out of the bathroom and heading towards the gym. I stayed close to the door though and looked around, not ready to go back and face any possible awkward chit-chat.

As I looked around in no particular direction, until I say a guy exactly parallel to me and approximately four large steps in distance.

He had dirty blonde hair that was shaggy and in his face, slightly tanned skin, small eyes that from a distance seemed to be a light brown, and a full oval face.

He was looking to his left, wide-eyed and unattached to his environment, like he didn't really care where he was but he had a favorable indifference to it.

He turned his head forward and saw me, looked for a second and then went to looking back around him. I did the same, but looked back after a minute, and a few seconds after I looked so did he.

Not really interested in just continuing a staring contest, I waved slightly and twitched my lips into a one-sided smile. He waved back quickly as his eyes softened from their original widened glance and he returned a half smile as well before returning to his former stance.

For some odd reason, my inner voice (figurative not literal) kept telling me: _this person is going to play an interesting role in your life, he'll be a part of it constantly._

My only responses were: _Yeah right. _And _If I end up having a crush on this guy I'm gonna laugh, because that's just too easy._

I started smiling to myself at that last one, and saw he was looking at me again, then he seemed to get distracted by something else.

_Alright this is ridiculous. _

So I walked towards his direction, looking around me and not daring to look at him until I was almost right next to him.

He was off in his own little world until I greeted him with a simple "Hi."

He looked at me and smiled, "Hi."

I stuck my hand out, "Katy Weston."

"Nathan Brown." He replied, shaking my hand and smiling at the ground.

"So you like these dances?" I asked, trying to start a conversation. He nodded, his eyes widened as he responded,

"Yeah I guess, what about you?"

"I like 'em. Music is catchy, outfits are fun to look at."

He nodded, smiling slightly, "Yeah, they put together some interesting outfits."

"Yeah." I laughed slightly.

We sat in silence for moment as we looked on into the crowd.

"So," I started, 'What kind of subjects are you learning?"

"Um, just the usual history, math, science, a few language courses." He said.

"Really? How many languages do they teach here?"

"Not many, but I've always liked learning new things, languages especially."

"Well, my mom taught me a little French when I was younger; Je parle un peu le français, parlez-vous français? Parlez-vous anglais?" I said the last sentence jokingly.

He seemed to get a spark in his eyes as he stepped up to the challenge and replied, "Je parle anglais, français, russe, chinois, espagnol et un peu de latin."

I gave him an impressed look, only vaguely understanding that he basically spoke many languages and replied, "Oui?"

He smiled proudly and replied, "Oui, oui."

We both laughed at the short conversation and I said finally, "Well forgive me if I'm not as well-taught as you are my friend, I'm only twelve."

He quickly got a shocked look on his face and shook his head quickly before he asked, his eyes wide with clear astonishment, "You're twelve?!"

"Yeah, what grade are you?"

"Freshman, um, sorry but you just look like-well- a freshman." He said, still seeming to be in slight confusion but laughing it off all the same.

I smirk slightly and say with an amused tone, "Thanks, I appreciate that."

He smiled dramatically and nodded his head in a 'gentlemanly fashion'.

_I can't believe it, _I thought to myself, _I actually got through a conversation with a person I've just met, and I didn't even think about resorting to sarcasm and I haven't thought of an actual judgment about him… Yet. _

_What is wrong with me?_

I looked around the room for Damon and the rest of the gang, finding only Elena in the crowd, and from what it looked like she was very distressed about something.

I suddenly saw the phone she was talking into and realized this was probably the vampire; even worse, I didn't see Stefan anyway near Elena, and she was heading for the door already-probably not to get Stefan though.

"I have to go find my-guardian. It was nice meeting you Nathan!" I shouted as I started running through the crowd to find anyone who could help me.

"Damon?" I called, pushing my way past a few teenagers, "Damon!"

I was about to shout a third time until I saw him dancing with some girl, I pushed my way towards them and shouted again when I got near, "Damon!"

He and his temporary date looked at me and he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Elena. Doors. Over there." I pointed as I started towards that direction; he got the hint quickly and ran towards where I led him, pushing my shoulder slightly to make me go faster.

When we got to a certain point where I didn't know where to go, I stopped to look around and listen for anyone; that was too slow for Damon because he sped off when I turned around. I groaned in aggravation, until I heard some screaming in one direction.

I ran off to find myself in the cafeteria, once I got in there I saw Stefan manage to impale creeper vamp on a stake.

Walking in their direction, I pulled out my own stake from my jacket and stood next to Elena.

"Now you feel like talking?" Stefan asked.

"Screw you." The vampire said, prompting Stefan to shove the stake in deeper.

'Wrong answer." He told him, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's fun." I looked away from him in disgust and glared at Damon when I saw him smirking.

"What do you want with Elena?" Stefan questioned as he shoved the stake further then ever.

The vampire paused and then said, "She looks like Katherine."

I looked back at him finally, with the same look of slight shock as everyone else, well mostly everyone else.

"You knew Katherine?" Damon asked, mostly in disbelief.

"Aww," the vampire replied, "You thought you were the only ones. You don't even remember me."

Damon ignored him and demanded, "Tell me how to get into the tomb."

"No." Once again Stefan twisted the stake, making the vampire respond, "The Grimoire."

"Well where is it?"

I listened in closely, waiting for an answer-which had to be yet again prompted by a twist of the stake.

"Check the journal." He said, "The journal. Use Jonathan's journal. Jonathan Gilbert's."

I looked from the vampire, to Elena, to the guys, and back to the vampire.

"Who else is working with you?"

He didn't answer.

"Who else is there?" Damon asked.

"No." he said, "You're gonna have to kill me."

Damon rolled his eyes, then turned to Stefan and gave a look, after which Stefan finally staked him in the heart.

I looked away once he started completely drooping to the ground. I'd seen this more than enough times in my opinion.

After a minute, the three of them started talking again but I was deaf to it, I just suddenly felt very tired. Probably just the slowing of my heart rate maybe.

I only noticed them again when Damon ran off out of the cafeteria, leaving me Elena and Stefan with the body.

Stefan hugged Elena for a minute and then looked at her, "Hey, I've got to take care of this. Why don't you go take Katy back and enjoy the rest of the dance?"

She shook her head, "No, I can't go back there right now."

He nodded, "Okay, well then why don't you both go and wait in the car?" He suggested, taking out the keys from his pocket and handing them to her, "Here, I'll be out in a few minutes, keep your phone on you."

She nodded and turned around coming towards me, "Come on Katy, let's go." I only nodded and followed her to the car.

Once we got into the hallway I spoke,

"That was the vampire Stefan just killed on the phone a few minutes ago wasn't it?"

She looked stunned and stood in her place, she scrambled for words but I interrupted before she could speak, 'I saw you going in there, out of the gym. I got Damon when I saw you leaving."

She nodded.

"What were you thinking? Why is it that _I_, the _twelve year old _got an adult in a clearly dangerous situation before _you_!?" I demanded in a tone that started even and then jumped towards the end.

She sighed and looked at me intently, "He was going to kill my brother."

I stopped, understanding but still kind of upset at the situation for some reason I couldn't quite fathom, but I took a breath and replied,

"Oh. Well," I held my stake out in front of her, "God forbid you're put in that situation again, take this."

She started shaking her head in confusion, "Oh no Katy-"

"This isn't an early birthday gift, it's a weapon you clearly don't have, take it." I said sternly then sighed, "I have plenty more I made at home, just take it and hopefully you'll have better luck next time."

I promptly knocked on one of the wood door frames of a classroom after I put the stake in her hand, and saw Elena started laughing slightly.

"What? After tonight of all night can we _really _afford to be picky about our superstitions?"

"No," she laughed slightly, "It's not just that it's…"

"What?"

"You just called the Boarding house 'home'." She smiled.

I felt myself twitch slightly at the realization that I had been referring to that place as 'home' more and more now. I quickly shook it off though and replied,

"Okay Dr. Phil, let's get to the car." I put my hands on her shoulders and pushed her in the direction of the door.

**A/N: Translations below**

**Katy: I speak a little French, do you speak French? Do you speak English?**

**Nathan: I speak English, French, Russian, Chinese, Spanish and a little Latin.**

**Katy: Yes?**

**Nathan: Yes.**


	15. Safe & Sound

Chapter 14  
>Safe &amp; Sound<p>

When I got h- back to the boarding house, I felt very shaky and ready to run, but at the same time I felt completely drained and exhausted.

Kind of like if you went to a carnival, rode the Salt and Pepper Shaker twice, then watched Titanic alone at night without chocolate in the house.

I ran up to my- my currant room and sat on the bed trying to even out my breath. After a few failed attempts with that I decided to try sleep and comfy pajamas.

When I reached for my duffle bag in the closet though, I found that it wasn't as close as I thought it was, and realized I must have thrown it much further back last time. I reached in for it, grabbing at darkness and not finding my bag.

But when I got off balance and tried to steady myself by putting my hand down, I accidentally rammed my head into the back of the closet.

I got out of the closet, rubbing my throbbing head as I did so, and moved the lamp in the room closer to the closet so I could see better.

What I saw was not only my duffle bag in the corner of the closet, but a small breaking trap door at the very back of the closet.

I crawled back into the closet and inspected the wooden trap door; it had heavily rusted hinges, no handle, and was dull colored and practically bendable from age.

I removed it from it's now broken hinges and looked inside; I found guns, vervain, stakes, some old papers, and books that were crammed together in an even smaller crevice at the bottom of the compartment.

Taking this opportunity to restock on weapons, I shoved all the vervain and stakes into my bag, followed by the papers, and then the books. Once I finally got to the guns- and a small bag of what appeared to be muzzles and bullets, I saw just how spacious the compartment actually was- in the very least it was big enough to fit a fairly small person, just right for me.

With a yawn, I crawled out of the closet to grab my pillow and sheets, shoved them into the compartment after I carelessly tossed the guns onto the floor, I curled up in my new hiding place and let my eyelids droop until I started to fall asleep.

_*Third Person's POV*_

Damon got home a little later after Stefan dropped Katy off; after the night they all had, he treated himself to a nightcap-whiskey.

He sat on the couch of the living room, swirling the glass in his hand and quietly thinking to himself about the recent information he had about the tomb. Even for him, it was a lot to swallow, but mostly because of how much tweaking he had to do for his plan to work.

He finished off the glass and went over to the bar for a refill, however, he started hearing loud thuds coming from upstairs.

He set the glass aside and went straight upstairs to Katy's room.

When Damon got to the door, he saw all over the floor were guns thrown about, and they led a path to the closet which had one of the lamps standing by it.

He walked over to the closet and peered inside to see a sleeping Katy, all snuggled up in his father's old weapons stash compartment.

Confused, but equally curious, he crawled into the closet until he sat next to her.

"Hey girlie." He said, just loud enough to wake her.

She stretched out, her eyes blinked twice before they fully opened, as she looked over to him with a tired look.

"Why do you keep doing this?" Damon asked, referring to the small spaces she appeared to like.

She shrugged, "It reminds me of the vent."

He nodded, "And the vent made you feel safe."

"Well where else can I be safe?"

But when Damon saw her face, and really looked into her eyes, he saw no sarcasm- instead he saw genuine fear.

And that was an emotion he hadn't seen on her face since she got there. She had gotten majorly freaked out when she thought she had gone blind down in Georgia, but she wasn't afraid.

He saw her distraught and hurt when he had killed Lexi, in fact he had seen anger from her before and after the incident.

No fear at all though in all that time. But now he was sure that was what he was looking at right then. And so he said the first thing that came to mind,

"With me." She looked up at him with confused eyes, "You'll be safe with me."

Katy began to look stunned at his words, and then confusion took its place again in her eyes. Then suddenly she had a look of great relief on her face; as though she had run a mile and finally was catching her breath.

And slowly, she reached out and took one of Damon's hands, tightly gripping it as if for dear life.

Damon was confused-shocked even, but accepting, in fact he felt oddly touched; as if he had just earned something he wasn't originally trying to gain.

He looked back at Katy with a slightly understanding look and squeezed her hand in a comforting manner.

She gave a small smile and adjusted herself so she could lie curled up on her side, not letting go of his hand even as she went back to sleep.

And he didn't let go either.


	16. Sides

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in so long but thankfully I can assure you that the next chapter will be out next Tuesday on the dot and I'm developing a better system so I can come out with them more consistently.**

**And since I don't really have enough questions for that video I can't make it yet, so yeah.**

**Thanks for all your support and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please review! They inspire me and I always love to hear what you think! :D**

Chapter 15  
>Sides<p>

_***Third Person's POV***_

In the morning, Damon realized he had fallen asleep in Katy's closet. This realization came to him in the form of an aching back.

He wondered if Katy's snarky attitude was an attribute to her strange sleeping habits.

He groaned and cracked his back, relieving some of his pain. Afterwards, he looked over to Katy, still sound asleep.

"Katy." he whispered, but got no response.

"_Katy..._" He said louder, but still she was not to be disturbed.

He sighed; clearly the events of last night had taken their toll on her, so much so it was a question of which of them was the dead one. So he pulled out his cell phone and dialed,

"Hello, Mystic Falls Middle School, how can I help you?"

"Hi, this is Damon Salvatore, Katy Weston's guardian."

"Oh yes, Katy. I suppose your calling about her detention schedule?"

"No. Actually, I called to inform you that Katy won't be attending school today."

"Why not?"  
>"She's sick. Bed-ridden right now actually. I know it's probably just a 24 hour bug, but I just wanna be sure." he said, pouring on the 'concerned-parent' charm.<p>

"Aww, poor thing." the woman said, "Well, I'll tell Principal Winthrop, she'll understand. I had two girls of my own, they gave me beautiful grandchildren, but I've come up against those nasty bugs lotsa times. They're nothing to be concerned over. They'll come and go this time of year especially."

Damon had only been half listening to her as he walked towards Stefan's room. But he replied in a sincere-sounding voice, "Thank you so much for understanding, bye now." and hung up.

He put the phone in his pocket and sped up to Stefan's room, sitting on the edge of his bed,

"Rise and shine, sleepyheads!" he said smirking.

Stefan and Elena shouted their displeasure at his appearance, covering themselves up with the sheets. He only responded in a snarky tone, "Oh, stop being smutty."

"Seriously, get out of here." Stefan said.

"If I see something I haven't seen before, I'll throw a dollar at it." he said, mischievously, "Now listen, there is some important business to discuss."

"And it has to be right now?" Elena countered.

"Well we have lots to do. Now that we're all, friends, and working toward a common goal."

Elena and Stefan shared a look of annoyance.

"So in order to open the tomb, we need to find the journal to get the Grimoire to undo the spell. So first thing's first, since you are Elena _Gilbert_, you're on journal duty."

"Since when am I helping?"  
>"Well, Stefan's helping and you've taken up residence in Stefan's bed. Ergo..."<p>

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do." Stefan assured her.

But she surrendered, "I'll look for it today."

"Good."

"How do we know this journal will contain the location of the Grimoire?" Stefan asked, "Are we really gonna take the word of this vampire who seemed like a bit of a dimwit."

"In loo of any other options." Damon responded sarcastically.  
>"Okay," she cut in, "What <em>exactly <em>is a Grimoire?"

"It's a, witch's cookbook." he said.

Stefan sighed, "Every spell that a witch casts is unique unto itself, so every witch would document their work-"

"Yeah, cookbook."

"What about our mystery vampire?" Stefan reminded him, "Dimwit, obviously wasn't working alone, so whose ever out there knows who we are."

"And I don't like that disadvantage so," he clapped his hands, backing away towards the door, "Chop chop."

Before he left he turned back around, "You know, I kinda like this whole menage-threesome-team thing, it's got a bit of a _kink_ to it." he laughed, "_Don't screw it up!_"

He finally walked out of the room, and when he reached the hallway, found Katy walking out of her room holding her head groggily.

"Hey girlie." she only nodded slightly in response, "Ooh. Silence. From you... Get the kids in the boat."

She didn't have enough energy to smirk or anything and only responded, "Headache. School's gonna be a nightmare."  
>"Well, that won't be an issue." He said, walking down the stairs with her, "I pulled you out of school for today, and you are gonna help me and the gang open that tomb."<br>"What?" she asked groggily.  
>"Yeah, so take your aspirin-or chamomile tea, whatever suits you. 'Cause we've got work to do."<p>

"In that case, I'm gonna run to the stores, clear my head, then get some coffee and a bagel."

"I'll drive."

"No, I need to run. I'm still kinda shaken from last night." she said going into the bathroom.

Damon stood outside the door and paused before he replied, "Shouldn't you be at ease since we finally ganked a bad guy this time?"  
>"Yeah, and when was the last time that happened?" she called through the door.<br>He nodded to himself in agreement, "Touche."

Katy came out after a few minutes, a toothbrush hanging from her mouth as she re-braided her hair.

"Remember to come back soon, we have some papers to dig through before we go to dinner."

"Dinner?" she asked, taking the toothbrush out of her mouth.

"Yeah, Elena's aunt invited the three of us to family night."

"When and _why_ did she do this?" she asked, finishing up brushing her teeth.

"Stefan's Elena's boyfriend, I'm Stefan's brother, and you're-"

"The household freeloader?"

"Yup, so we're going, and while you play with Jeremy I'll be schmoozing with Jenna." He smirked.

"I don't think there was one part of that sentence that _wasn't_ dirty."

He let out a short breathy laugh, "Just make sure you don't run into any badies on your way to the store."

"As if I could help it." she said walking out the door.

_***Katy's POV***_

I walked to the stores slowly at first, rubbing my aching head. It was times like these I wished I could take aspirin.

On my way, I wondered to myself whether or not I should just tell Damon about Katherine already being out.

_Should I tell him? _I asked myself, _Would it be helpful or hurtful?_

Damon and I aren't exactly besties, but I didn't think he would hurt me, even if it was for the sake of keeping up appearances.

It's not my fault the bitch ditched bail; heck! I wasn't even born yet!

But Damon wasn't always rational apparently, and I wasn't quite ready to dismiss that theory. And for that matter, Stefan's apparently no better either, for all I know he might be worse! I couldn't even consult anyone, Elena would tell Stefan, and don't even get me started on Sheriff and her groupies.

_Is there no person I can trust with vital information in this crazy place?!_

Well-No...

So I finally got to town, and went straight to the little grocery section on the side corner. They had all the essentials as usual; cashier counters in the front, fruits and vegetables section, usual aisles for anything that didn't need refrigeration and a few for things that did, and a small deli which I went to. I picked out my bagel and made myself some coffee-overfilled with sugar as usual, then waited patiently on the line to get it toasted.

However, once I got my order together, I noticed a familiar face by a school supplies aisle. Nathan Brown from yesterday!

And stranger still, I actually had the urge to go up and have a hopefully pleasant conversation with him!

_Maybe I should've taken that aspirin, I'm losing it!_

I'd had crushes before; approximately two celebrities when I was six, and three or four crushes on old neighbor boys when I was younger. However, the only two I remember having consistent and long-ranged thought, was Harry Potter and Cameron Williams- a boy I lived next door to for two years when I was eight.

But even then it seemed fairly limited for the circumstances and in comparison to this recent development; I liked Cameron for about four months, and thinking he liked me back I asked him to be my boyfriend. Which he said yes to on the condition that we could break up if we both found someone better. Then about an hour later he started bragging to his friends-in front of my mind you- that I was 'in love with him' and he rejected me the 'stupid little girl'.

Damn little hypocrite was _almost_ twelve and I'd been ten for about a month!

I spent the next four months or so teased by him and his friends until we moved for better client range. It wasn't fun.

To be fair though, given the right set of circumstances I would be doing a happy dance if the boy who lived said "let's run away together". Don't judge.

But even though it had barely been a day, and less then a half hour of actual conversation, I couldn't stop thinking about him. And even weirder, I didn't _want_ to stop thinking about him. That didn't make any logical sense!

_Spock would be so ashamed..._

But despite my recently discovered hormone level and my racing heartbeat, I decided if I was gonna like him, there was gonna be a damn reason I did. I needed to be able to hold a conversation with him.

My inner Spock seemed more or less approving of my half-baked plan and I walked right up to him while he was choosing some notebooks.

"Hey." I greeted with a smile, "Nathan right?"

He turned around and smiled pleasantly, "Nate. Katy?"

"Yeah. Nice to see you again."  
>"You too, you too. Whatcha doin' outta school?"<p>

"Right back 'atcha." I smirked.

He laughed slightly, "I had some work to do at home, I got permission to skip."

"What kind of work?"  
>"Debate team stuff."<p>

"You're on debate team?"

"Yeah," He smiled proudly, "I'm gonna go into politics. After I go to medical school."

"You wanna be a doctor and a politician?"

"Yeah. My dream is to be a neurosurgeon, but since my uncle's a plastic surgeon I'll probably be doing that instead. But yeah, after a few years of that, I'm gonna run for president."

I raised my eyebrows, "Wow, you really have it all planned out don't you?"

"Yup." he said, grinning, "What about you?"

"Well, my dad always suggested I become a lawyer like him, or a nurse. My mother pushed for lawyer or stocks."

"What?" he laughed.

"Mom said those would be good for me because apparently I look sweet, but then I can suddenly tear them a new one."

He kept laughing a little and said, "Well, I certainly wouldn't see you coming."

"Thanks." I smirked, "I'm sure you'll be a great neurosurgeon."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome pal."

Later, when we both went to leave, we found we kept going in the same direction so we decided to chat along the way until we found a break in the road.

And we had fun!

We both learned about each other's interests and hobbies; he told me he was on the football team at school-though was mostly benched since he was a freshmen, and he also liked politics a lot, especially when he could explain it to little old me who knew zip about it.

But at some point we got into a debate over which was the better president, J.F.K. or Ronald Reagan. I like ole' Ron.

"Kennedy was by far the better American leader. He was completely capable; he had everything under control, and made good smart decisions."

"He cheated on his wife!" I argued.

"Yes, _but_ Reagan's decisions were effected by his mental health deteriorating."

"First off, he got Alzheimer's dementia _years_ after both terms. Second, even if it was still cooking in there while he was in office, which it couldn't have been, Reagan played a major role in upholding American values and bringing down the Berlin wall. Kennedy deliberately destroyed the trust of his own wife, I generally don't like to get into the private lives of our politicians but when it's something along those lines you've gotta think about it. What does it say about how trustworthy he is if the woman who he promised to love and respect can't rely on him?"

"Sarah Palin's daughter got pregnant when she was a teenager! By that logic she wouldn't have been capable of leading a country to good moral choices if she was in a position of power, how can she do that if she can't lead her daughter to them?" He said smugly.

"Sarah Palin's daughter's teen pregnancy obviously isn't ideal, but that hardly says anything about Sarah's parenting, she made the point that her daughter never showed any sign of that being a possibility. I mean what is she psychic? Besides, since then her daughter has been a great responsible mother, she graduated high school with flying colors, and she even speaks to young girls about the consequences of teenage sex. So that in fact shows both responsibility taken on by the daughter and Sarah who helped her and guided her during that time in her life. Good for her!"

"Still doesn't mean Reagan was the better president. I'd rather have a president who wasn't crazy."

"I'd rather have one who made good decisions."

Before he could respond, we came to a fork in the road and I had to split.

"Well, I gotta go. See ya!" I said running off.

"Bye."

I got to the house, threw out my empty coffee cup and bagel wrapping, then started looking for Damon.

"Marco!"

"Polo!" I heard from upstairs.

I rushed upstairs to find him sitting on his bed, books and papers spread out all over, he was so focused he barely looked up when I sat down next to him.

"Hey girlie."

"You _really _have to stop calling me that."

"No why would I do that?"

"Because..." I searched my mind awkwardly for a comeback, "I'll start calling you boy-ie..."

He didn't stop reading, but raised an eyebrow, "Are you trying to embarrass you or me?"

"Forget it."

I scowled and laid back on the headrest, not bothering to help him look through the papers.

"So is your headache gone?"

"Yes."

"Good, you're irritable enough in health."

"My friend Nate doesn't seem to think so." I smirked.

"Did you ask, _Nate_?"

"No, of course not." I said, "Because then he'd tell me the truth."

Damon nodded in agreement, "So where did you meet this kid?"

"At the decade dance. He's a freshmen at the school. He speaks a shitload of languages I've never heard of, is an active Debate and Football team member, and I think I like him because he looks like Justin Bieber if he went tanning."

"Before or after his balls dropped?"

"Before."

Damon finally looked up with a look of absolute disapproval on his face.

"What?!" I said, trying not the laugh at the absurdity of it, "The illiterate asshole I met at sniper school hasn't called back."

His expression didn't change and finally I burst into laughter, then he chuckled slightly too before he went back to driven-hard-ass mode.

"Alright, start sorting through that pile right there. I already went through it, but check and see if I missed anything."

"Come on, there was a nice little moment there, did you _have _to ruin it?"

"Yes."

"Dick."

"Brat."

"Mother-"

"Hey! You guys find anything yet?" Stefan said, walking in.

"No, not yet." Damon replied, "Stefan, our forefathers could not have written more useless information."

"Well the meaning of a journal is 'Keep Out: Private' not 'Please read to learn about vampire infested tombs'!" I said.

Stefan smiled slightly at my comment, "Katy do you have homework?"

"No but I do have to leave so you two can talk suspiciously behind my back."

With that I got up and headed towards the hall, deciding that I was really in the mood for a cookie.

_***Third Person's POV***_

Once both Stefan and Damon were satisfied that she had left, they started talking,

"So." Damon said, "I don't imagine you wanna talk about any recent bunny hunts."

"No." Stefan said, "I thought it was about time to talk about the big gaping elephant in the room."

"Which one?"

"What are you planning on doing about Katy once you get Katherine back?"

Damon studied his brother, eyes narrowed in thought, "What would _you _like me to do?"

"I think she should go back to the orphanage." Stefan answered, "Like she's supposed to in four months."

"If the solution is as obvious as you make it sound, why are you talking to _me _about it?"

"Because I think we should put her in the car right now and drop her off there as fast as we can."

Damon quirked an eyebrow, smirking, "Jeez Stef, how do you _really_ feel about it?"

"She can't stay here Damon." He persisted, "She shouldn't be here doing your dirty work when it has nothing to do with her-it's bad enough you brought Elena into this, and she _definitely_ should not be around Katherine."

"Aww, but she _loves_ kids!" Damon said with mock disappointment.

"Damon I'm serious." He urged, frustrated with his bother's sarcasm, "Now it's not that I don't like Katy, I think we've all grown somewhat attached-"

Damon loudly snapped the book he was reading shut, looking away from Stefan with a fairly angry look on his face.

"I just don't think it's good for any of us to prolong the inevitable." He said calmly.

Damon finally looked at Stefan, pausing for a minute before he responded, "You're right. We should go right now, we should take her right to the orphanage. Then she'll have a wonderful life without vampires, and live in a farmhouse with puppies to play with."

"Damon-"

"Oh don't worry about Sheriff Forbes; sure I gave her and the council vervain, but I'm sure she'll understand if I explain that my teenage brother wanted her out."

"Damon be rational."

"You're right, that's too harsh. I'll just tell her that I'm a vampire whose getting back together with his girlfriend whose been locked up in a tomb for a hundred years. You can't argue with that."

"She's twelve, Damon!" Stefan argued, "She's spent most of her life engulfed in this life. If you try to keep her here you're being selfish."

He said nothing in response, but instead continued an angry look and walked away from Stefan. He walked down the hall to the room next door to his, an old study room that had been Zach's room for a while before he-well, passed.

He entered the room, turned to the left, and looked behind a desk looking down to find Katy crouched down in a small space with a sarcastically awkward smile on her face,

"You heard everything?"

"Only because I was eavesdroppin'... And you don't actually have cookies."

Damon smirked and reached out a hand to help her up, which she took.

_***Elena's POV***_

"Do you think Damon really believes us?" I asked, going through some boxes, "That we're both trying to help him?"

Stefan seemed to think about it for a moment, "I don't think Damon knows what to believe. Trust isn't something that comes naturally to him."

I considered his words, "You know..." I started, "I think that Damon believes that everything he's done, every move he's made, he's done for love. It's twisted, but kind of sad."

"There are other ways to get what you want. You don't have to kill people." He reasoned, "Damon has no regard for human life. He enjoys inflicting pain on others."

I sighed, I knew he had a point, but-I don't know, I had some doubts. I think he could see it all over my face, because he continued,

"For 145 years, every single time that I have let my guard down and let Damon back into my life, he's done something to make me regret that." he explained, his eyes very serious, "I'm not gonna make that mistake again."

I took a breath, "But he has Katy, for now at least, I think she's been a good influence. Given him a chance to bond, take care of something for a change."

"She won't always be here Elena, she's supposed to leave in four months. I'm trying to convince to make her go to the orphanage today so she doesn't get in the middle of this."

"Stefan, she's already in the middle. I don't like it either, and I agree that she shouldn't be around all this but-" I stopped to calm myself down, "What about Damon? And Katy's part in this already, she's probably helping him right now without thinking twice about it."

"Katy's young, she doesn't know better than that."

"Don't underestimate her." I said, "She's tough. She may be a kid, but she's a smart one. And more importantly she's loyal. I wouldn't be shocked if she followed him to the edge of a cliff."

"That's why she needs to go Elena, she'll only be put in the crossfire if she stays." He urged, "I can see you care about her, so I know you don't want her around when Damon opens that door."

I become more worried each second, his words making too much sense in my mind, "So what do you think will happen if the tomb gets opened and Damon gets Katherine back?"

Stefan paused, he seemed almost reluctant before he responded, "I think that no matter what Damon promises, a lot of people will die."

My mind became rabid with contradicting thoughts; of course I didn't want anyone to get hurt! Or for Katy to be in the middle of all this! But did I want her to leave? I didn't know her well, but I did care. Would it be a good idea for her to leave?

Maybe she could help Damon become a decent person, she needs someone too, they both needed to heal. Katy was in the perfect position to help, after all she was the only person so far he seemed to form a camaraderie with.

But how could I deny the evidence I had right in front of my eyes? All Stefan said aside, what about Vicki? Or Caroline? Or Lexi? Or Bonnie that one time? All of them, and probably countless others filled me with doubt, and all pointed me in one direction: Damon was a murderer, and he was trying to revive his murderer love. The sooner we found and destroyed the Grimoire the better.

That was enough for me to keep helping Stefan, but one question racked my mind.

_If Damon was as much of a killer as reasoning dictated, why didn't he use compulsion in Atlanta?_

All I could hope for them was proof any goodness he had was salvagable.

_***Katy's POV: A Few Hours Later***_

"My father never approved of anyone I dated, which only made me want them more." He smirked, "Of course. What about you?"

"There were a few guys." Jenna answered, "Logan isn't the only loser I've dated."

I laughed a little bit, steadying myself where I sat, cross-legged on the counter in the kitchen. I decided to stay close to Damon, since I wasn't very familiar with everyone I figured that safety in numbers was wise.

However, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be; it was still awkward because of recent introduction, but I was smiling pleasantly-so take what you will from that.

"They ever find him? Or is he still _missing_?" Damon only smirked obliviously when I gave him a significant look.

"He's not missing." she said, "He's in the Bahamas working on his tan, very entitled that one. Marches to his own drum."

"Is that and individual or family trait, cause I got a classmate-or five- that do the same thing."

Jenna smiled and finished her drink, which Damon promptly filled as she replied, "He's a Fell, they're all snooty."

Damon smirked at her as he went back to slicing vegetables, "Hello, Elena."

Both Jenna and I turned to see her enter, a look of confusion spread upon her face.

"Hey," Jenna greeted, "Where have you been? We're cooking dinner."

"Well they are, I'm not 'cause I'm lazy." I said, earning a small laugh from Jenna.

"Girlie!" He got my attention, "Think fast."

He tossed me a bell pepper, I clumsily caught it and then took the knife he handed me, "Start choppin'." he turned to Elena, "Is Stefan with you?"

"Um, he'll be here soon." she said.

_Huh, _I thought, _That's not like Stefan. Seemed to me like he'd want to be here to monitor Damon's behavior._

I didn't want to jump to conclusions, but even Damon had a look on his face where you could tell he was probably thinking something similar. But albeit, probably for different reasons.

After repeated instances of Steve kicking my ass at Mario Cart, and the delicious dinner, I felt completely wiped out.

_The Italian culture has not been my friend today._

But it was oddly relaxing to watch Damon kick Emo Boy's ass in turn when he played.

"You said you've never played this thing before."

"I'm a fast learner. Quick reflexes." Damon replied.

"I personally feel a complete sense of justice watching you get your ass handed to you Steve."

"Beginner's luck."

"Sour grapes."

Steve smirked slightly before getting a text on his cell. He looked only briefly before going right back to the video game.

"Who are you dodgin?" Damon asked.

"This girl Anna." He sighed, "She can be, uh, persistent."

"Is she hot?" I rolled my eyes at the question.

"Yeah, yeah, but she can be weird."

"Hot trumps weird, trust me" He smirked.

Steve and I started laughing, "He is right, the hot/crazy scale has not been proven wrong yet."

"Yeah but we can't live our lives based on things we see on 'How I Met Your Mother'."

"Would you prefer we live by things we see in a Stephan King movie? I don't like the idea of killer clowns."

"She's got a point."

Just then Elena announced Stefan's arrival after the knock on the door, prompting Damon to hop up and run off to see him.

"Dude!" Steve said when he left, then he turned to me, holding out the second video game control, "Care to try again?"

"You beat me eight times at Mario Cart by a landslide... Sure why not?"

We played video games for the next half hour, now discussing funny last names instead of my lacking gamer skill.

"Duncan Waldman."

"Wall-Man, he can create huge walls around bad guys so they can't get away."

"What does he have, super speed and strength to do this?"

"He does it by the power of his mind."

"Oh!" I nodded, "Okay, I know a guy named Anthony Goodman."

Steve thought for a second, "Nah, too redundant, try again."

"Hey at least that one does good, so he'd probably have unlimited powers-who would wanna be Wall Man?"

"Wall Man."

"Nah, he's got self-esteem issues, I'm telling ya."

"And _Good Man _doesn't? 'Fear me criminals! I wield the might powers of good! I make people feel-'"

"Alright, alright, I get your point."

He smiled, "You know you're not bad for a twelve year old."

"Thanks, comes with a territory."

"A territory?"

"Such as the ability to say you knew what a payphone was before Maroon 5 wrote a song about it."

He laughed, "Yeah I get it. Alright I have a teacher named Alaric Saltzman."

"Salt-Man... He causes high cholesterol in his enemies, then adds flavor to them so the bigger bad guys can eat them."

"But isn't that bad, since he's feeding the more evil bad guys?"

"No, because since he over salted the little bad guys, it caused the bigger bad guys severe heart troubles."

"You are dark..."

"All about the territory." I replied.

Suddenly Damon, Elena, and Stefan appeared, walking up to us.

"So,:" Damon said to Steve, "I heard you found a really cool journal from back in the day. Who else did you show it to?"

_Get to the point Damon you're being too subtle_, I thought sarcastically.

"Huh?" Don't ask questions, just spill."

"You're kidding me right?"

Elena stepped in, "Jer, did you tell anyone other than Mr. Saltzman about Jonathan Gilbert's journal?"

"Why is everybody so obsessed with that thing?"

"Book report." I said, "Due in like-two-three days and flunking."

Just as Steve was about to respond Elena asked, "Who else did you tell?"

"Just that girl Anna." He shrugged.

"The hot/weird one?" Damon questioned.

"Yeah."

"Wait," Stefan said, "Who is Anna?"

"That's what I want to find out." He turned to Steve, "How do you know her?"

"I just know her." He shrugged again, "She wants me to meet her at the Grill tonight."

"Perfect. I'll drive." Damon turned to me, "Come on."

Steve and I, both confused-well he was, got up and followed hum to the door, "Okay."

"Wait." I said, "I need my jacket."

"Okay, Katy can you just hitch a ride home with Stefan? We really have to get Jeremy to his friend."

I nodded slightly, Damon nodded back and dragged Steve out the door to his car.

_***Third Person's POV***_

Elena had just ended her conversation with Bonnie about her date, and turned around in time to see Stefan entering her room.

"Where's Damon?" she asked.

"He left to track down Jeremy's friend Anna, see if there was anything there."

"Aren't you gonna go with him?" she rushed slightly nervous, "If he gets to the journal before we do, then-"

Stefan silenced her by holding up a roll of papers, "Doesn't matter."

"What is that?"

"It's a copy of it."

"How did you get it?"

"Well, Mr. Saltzman made a copy and was-" He shrugged as he considered his words, "kind enough to loan it to me."

Elena gave a playful look of disbelief replying, "He did?"

"Not exactly," He admitted, "but I got it."

Elena nodded, but suddenly her eyes darted behind Stefan, widening with surprise. When he turned around to look behind him, Stefan saw non other than Katy standing in the doorway.

"Katy," Stefan said, "What's wrong?"

"A number of things at the moment."

"Look Katy," Elena said, "This is not how it sounds-"

"Bull. Shit." she drawled, "It's exactly how it sounds. All I'm wondering is why you are _dumb_ enough to think this is a good idea on ANY level!"

"Katy understand." Elena pleaded, walking over to her and looking in her eyes, "Damon wants Katherine back, Katherine was a horrible violent person who hurt people. We can't let her out."

"No arguments on her character." Katy replied, "But how bad do you think Damon will be when he finds out you screwed him over?"

Elena sighed, "Look, Katy, all we need is for you to stay quiet,a dn not tell Damon. I'm not asking you to lie to him, or help us in anyway. We can probably end this tonight and it will all be over."

Her eyes darted nervously between Elena and Stefan.

"Katy please." Elena begged, "Let us end it. Now."

Without a word, Katy raced out of the room and down the stairs.

"Katy!" Elena called after her, but was only answered by the door slamming.

She sighed and moved back to Stefan, a look of guilt and frustration spreading on her face.

"Do you think she'll tell? I mean should we go after her?"

"I don't know, but whether she tells or not I'm fairly certain she's going to Damon, she'll be safe for now."

"What if she tells him?" she asked, running a hand nervously through her hair.

"Then we need to hurry." He replied.

Elena hesitated before nodding her head and grabbing the copy of the journal.

_***Katy's POV***_

I'm fairly certain I'd just experienced the ultimate nerve-racked moment of all adolescent kind!

I already knew about their bitchy girlfriend's escape, and yet, I didn't tell them.

I knew the dangers of the other vampires, and yet, I'm just sitting back and hoping for the best.

I'm willing to trust Damon right _now_, AND YET, I _still _don't believe he won't go ape-shit on me if I tell him!

Freakin' existential crises!

Well, all I knew was, I wasn't gonna tell him about Stefan's and Elena's extra curricular activities. If I didn't trust Damon when-and if- I told him about Katherine, I did _not _trust him with _that _little detail.

Honestly, thought I knew I should really just tell him, mostly I was hoping they would succeed in screwing up the plan so I wouldn't have to.

After running out of the house, I just wanted to go home, so that's what I did.

But on my way over, I was walking passed the Grill when Damon came out (no not _that _way... _Yet_...) and started walking towards his car. I was gonna run off and ignore him, but he caught sight of me before I had the chance.

"Hey!" He called out to me, "Katy, why aren't you at Elena's?"

I bit my lip for a second, "I wanted to go home after dinner."

"Get in the car." He said, "I'll take you home after a quick pit stop."

I hesitantly trotted over to the car and got in the back. I remained silent, not knowing what to say that wouldn't directly lead to hiding Elena and Stefan's plan.

_What is wrong with me? _I wondered, slightly frustrated, _I lied to Sheriff Forbes and many others, no problem, what's changed?_

"You doing alright back there?"

I looked up at him in the rear-view mirror and nodded, "Yeah."

He nodded back slightly and continued to drive, the look on his face told me he was less than convinced, but clearly had other things on his mind.

We came to a small motel parking lot, in which Damon parked and got out of the car, "You still got that ring?" he asked me.

I said nothing and pulled out a tiny stalk of vervain from my jacket, holding it up with my ringed finger. He seemed satisfied with that and sped off into the building, while I remained in the car.

While he was inside, I kept arguing with myself over the whole situation. I got no further than where I'd been before, but a thought occurred to me, about my staying here.

_Why am I here?_

_Because Sheriff wanted a witness to vampire activity._

_I hid from the cops when that vamp came around, and I'd always considered running away from the orphanage... Why not just leave? _I wondered.

_I didn't mean crap to these people, they only looked after me because it would be inconvenient for them not to. Just like the orphanage. Sure I was rude and they seemed to be willing to put up with it, it's their small town hospitality, that'd change soon enough._

_But what do I care? I'd be leaving soon; four months was bull crap, I was probably leaving in four days-MAX!_

_Stefan was right, why prolong the inevitable? It's useless._

_That whole conversation this morning was exactly my point. These people have lives! Lives potentially at stake for that matter!_

_I don't think they hate me or wish me ill-will, but when I leave no one will blink an eye._

_Why would they? I shouldn't even be questioning this! It's been obvious from the beginning!_

_What was I hoping for? That Elena, Stefan, Damon, and everyone would _pity me_? Be all 'Poor little orphan! Stay with us!' or even Damon going 'Hey, since my girlfriend is dead or gone or whatever, we should just travel the world Daddy-Adopted-Daughter style!'._

_None of that was realistic or even plausible! Even if we lived in a world where vampires adopting wasn't difficult, Damon wasn't even close to that kind of mindset._

_Here's two realistic scenarios:_

_Katherine isn't in the tomb, he never knows I knew. He quickly drops me off at an orphanage with a 'See ya girlie!' and drives off._

_Katherine isn't in the tomb, I tell him I know and maybe somehow unknowingly direct him to her. I DIE!_

_Or he might not go ape-shit... He'll go 'thanks for the tip' drives off and leaves me with Stefan till _he _drives me to the orphanage or term is up._

_See a pattern yet?_

_Point is, I can't and won't stay, the only question about it is whether or not I go myself or get a ride._

Before I could make any further speculations, Damon had suddenly appeared back in the car, startling me slightly.

"Jeez man!" I murmured.

Damon didn't respond and immediately went speed racer on my ass as he started driving erratically down the road.

I hadn't put on my seat belt when I'd gotten in, so by now I was clinging onto the headrest in the backseat and my feet were pressed up against the back of the driver's seat

"Dude!" I said, "Who'd you piss off?!"

"The Grimoire is in my father's grave."

"Then why are you speeding? I hardly think he's gonna just rise from the gave out of boredom!" Then I thought for a second, "He won't, right?"

He smirked, "No, unless you know something I don't?"

I gulped, but kept a straight face, mostly because I kept my eyes anywhere but at him.

"Why would _I _know?"

"I don't know." He said, then suddenly stopped the car, "Stay."

"Do I get my biscuit?"

He only smirked again and sped off.

I _was _gonna stay, I really was! But then I remembered something: If Damon knew where the Grimoire was now, then Stefan and Elena must also know by now, and must be there already!

So I hurtled out of the car and ran as fast as I could through the woods, not really knowing where to go but going faster and faster all the same. Until finally I saw some fire light up ahead, obviously signalling where they were.

When I got there, I saw Damon holding Elena-clearly against her will, and forcing his wrist to her mouth. I knew perfectly well what that meant.

"Give me the book Stefan!" He said, "Or I'm snappin' her neck. And you and I will have a vampire girlfriend."

"Let her go first!" Stefan said.

"The book!"

"I am not gonna give this to you." He said, almost pleadingly, "Until she is standing next to me."

"The problem is, I no longer _trust_ that you'll give it _back_!"

"You just did the one thing that ensures that I will."

My breath hitched dryly, my heart sped up, and after a minute my breathing became almost painful as I hyperventilated. I kept looking between them, scared of anyone who moved-even in place.

Damon gestured to Stefan to place the book, and he soon complied, placing it slowly in front of him. I looked back at Damon who still hadn't let Elena go. And I almost sprung into action when I thought he was about to snap her neck.

Then he slowly removed his arm from around her neck and gently pushed her forwards. She slowly stepped towards Stefan, until she got to a certain distance and ran into his protective arms.

They all stared at each other for a minute, and then Stefan and Elena hurried off. Damon turned to look at me for a second, his face cold and angry, then quickly grabbed the book from off the ground. He stared into the fire, and for a minute I hoped he would burn the damned thing-unfortunately he didn't.

He turned to leave just then, and started sprinting off towards the car. He'd already gotten way ahead of me, but I just walked slowly behind. By the time I decided to speed up a little bit and got there, he had already put the book in the car and was waiting impatiently for me.

"Get in the car." He demanded, starting to get in himself.

He saw me make no movement to do so and just stared at me, eyebrows raised.

"You tried to kill Elena." I choked.

"Oh, I didn't try to kill her!" he shrugged nonchalantly, ""I wanted to turn her."

"You had her by the throat!"

"You lied to me." He said sternly, "You think I couldn't tell? That something was just-hmm, a _little _off?"

I continued to be silent as he continued,

"You know I was quite disappointed actually." He said, starting up the car, "You've always lied _so much _better in the past."

Then he drove off, leaving me to myself.

_Dick._

_He's right..._

So I began to walk back to the Boarding House, the long walk helping me clear my head. But after a while, the stress and confusion and just DAMN REALITY got to me, and I couldn't take it. I sat down on a park bench I'd come across, and held my breath to keep the water works from flowin'-did nothin' for the one or two tears that escaped though.

I looked up to see a larg old-fashioned clock by the town square. 1:37.

I let our a small humorless chuckle, which sounded more like a sob, and said to myself, "Happy Birthday to me!"


	17. The Birthday Massacre!

**A/N: I told you I would get the next chapter out today! :D I'm working on making the next one come out at the same time.**

**I want to give you all a heads up that next week the story title will be changed to "The Katy Weston Chronicles" so don't be surprised when you see the change. **

**Please review and tell me everything you think I really want to make the story better then it ever has been and I want to continue improving. Thank you all for your support! :D Love you all! :D**

Chapter 16

The Birthday Massacre!

So yeah, today is my birthday, which was celebrated the first time by Lexi saving me after almost dying-seems like I was in danger from Day 1.

I am now thirteen years old and counting. So I decided to celebrate this year by seeing an early morning Triple Feature of 'Twilight', 'Twilight Saga: New Moon', and the newest addition 'Twilight Saga: Eclipse' and eat overly priced candy-but also sneak in a can of sprite with a small piece of cheap store bought cake.

Movie Comments: While 'New Moon' remains my favorite out of them all, this one was funnier-though probably not on purpose. I wish we'd seen the Volturi more.

Candy and Comments: If you're going to charge 7$ a box then don't just put in 5 milk duds!

So my birthday was going great!

After the rough few days we'd all had, on my birthday especially, I am allowed to enjoy a bunch of ironically funny movies and stuff myself with sugar!

So once the movies ended, I went to the park and played childishly on the swings while shouting "WHEEEEEE!" before jumping off them mid-air. Don't judge me I had a blast!

I walked back to the Boarding House soon after I ran out of ideas. When I got inside, I walked into a conversation between Stefan and Damon.

"You know, all I can remember is hating you. There might have been a time when that was different, but your choices have erased anything good about you." Stefan said.

I remained silent and continued listening, he went on,

"But see, I also know that you have just as much reason to hate me. This all began with me. Katherine got taken away from you _because_ of me." He paused for a second, "And I'm sorry."

Silence, a pregnant pause more like, before Damon finally replied, "Apology accepted."

_Yeah right, _I thought.

"So please!" Stefan urged, "Just tell me what you know."

Damon only responded with a breath so he continued, "It's Elena, Damon. If you know something... Tell me."

These bozos officially had my full attention! I wasn't really close with Elena but I never wished her harm, even when she and Stefan betrayed Damon I didn't, so I was getting nervous.

Especially when Damon responded. Shit got real.

"I mean thus sincerely." He said, "I hope. Elena. Dies."

My breath hitched and my jaw quivered in anger. I'd had quite enough of this crap! Nope! No more! I already have enough people dying on me _without_ bad things wished on them! I WILL NOT have ANYONE wish bad things on people I have not wished them on first! Damon is no exception, as he has already been a douche to me, Stefan, and the rest of humanity!

I stomped into the room, jaw clenched, shoulders tense, and balled up fists ready to fly. Stefan and Damon turned around to see me, Damon being the first to speak,

"Hey girlie," He greeted, looking semi-annoyed, "Skipped out on us this morning."

"What's going on?" I said, my hands on my hips.

"Nothing you need concern yourself with."

"Anna kidnapped Elena." Stefan said.

My eyes widened and my jaw slacked, "Why?"

"Because we have the Grimoire."

I sighed, my rage started to progress and I need to keep the vein in my head from repainting, "Alright, down to business boys." I turned to Damon with a glare, "First come, first served. Let's start with why you just decided to become an even bigger asshole then usual by wishing _death _on someone in a dangerous situation... What in the blazing hell is wrong with you!?"

"Katy-"

"No! Shh!" I told Stefan firmly, "You go back to your corner and do whatever you gel-haired vamps do! I am having a little chat with the Dick Master."

"Dick Master?" Damon asked disapprovingly.

"Whatever; Now, Damon, I have taken losta' crap here-quite frankly, I kinda' _want _to go to the asylum right now! So no more! You have killed my Godmother, treated me like an insignificant little kid-which continues to piss me off BTW, threatened Elena and Stefan _and _me, and I have not bitched you out even close to be considered enough for _one _of those things! So while you probably care jack shit about me or anyone else in this room, you care about that bitch whose made my name replace the 'F' word in the dictionary of LIFE! So if your botched-lobotomy-induced-reasons-on-crack for caring about that whore are still intact, then you will be helpful and NEVER say that again or so help me God, I will grab that fireplace poker over there and repeatedly shove it so far up your ass I could use you as a flagpole!"

Stefan had a look of complete and utter horror on his face, while Damon's eyes widened for a minute or two then reverted back to severe annoyance and underlining anger.

"So sack up! Bro. Get your shit together, _find some common ground_." I gave them both significant looks, "I will be in my room texting and getting some vamptonite together. Do what you will with my wisdom."

And I walked up the stairs without a word, leaving them in shocked silence. When I got to my room, I shut the door-letting out a huge sigh as I slid down to the floor, "I'm exhausted."

_***Third Person's POV***_

After getting over a moment of shock at the outburst-which was strange even for Katy-, Damon said to himself, "Huh." then laughed slightly, "I'll tell ya, that girl gets very animated when she's pissed."

"Yeah, I-uh, I'm gonna try not to think about it." Stefan said quickly, rushing off to go look for Elena.

Once he sped out, Damon poured himself another drink. Katy came down stairs with her duffle-bag filled to the brim with guns, stakes, vervain, and a few muzzles. She dropped the bag on the couch, glaring at Damon, with her hands on her hips.

"Well shall we go save people?"

"Oh, you want to help people now?" He replied with mock confusion, then sneered, "That's a new one."

"That's petty."

He gave Katy an annoyed look and continued to fix himself a drink. She rolled her eyes and groaned loudly, "You're mad at me!"

"Gee, why would you think _that_?" Damon said nonchalantly.

"Damon, do you know how long I _actually knew _about their plan before you?" He didn't respond, "About 1 hour."

Damon expression didn't change, but his stance vaguely suggested he was listening, thought that was hanging by a thread.

"I walked in on them talking after you left to drive Jeremy to the Grill." she explained, "I was never plotting against you."

He slammed his glass down on the bar, walking over to Katy, "I'll bite." he said sarcastically, "Why didn't you tell me the _second_ you found out if you're not on their side?"

"Because I was afraid of what you might do."

"I wouldn't hurt you-"

"Not to me! To them!"

They both remained silent for a moment. After a second, Katy sighed heavily and slumped down on the couch, staring intently at her hands as she replied,

"Remember when I saved you from Logan?" Damon smirked slightly in response, "I told you afterwards that I couldn't handle another death."

He nodded to himself, remembering perfectly well what she said, it had surprised him somewhat at the time.

"Well, Damon, I meant it." She turned to face him, standing back up as she did so, "I've promised myself that I will protect you from them, and anyone else who comes into the mix. But that means I'm protecting them too, from whoever it is."

Damon smirked, "You think you're strong enough to protect _me_? And defend _anyone _in our little circle from me?"

"Well, no I'm not stupid." she nodded in agreement, "But I'm gonna try my hardest, and go down kicking and screaming if I have to."

"Cute."

"So you gonna stop being an ass to me?" she thought for a second, "More than usual?"

"Hmm." He thought dramatically, "I'll give you probation."

"Probation? I never did anything to you."

He gave her a look, "You want my forgiveness or not? Besides, we're discussing what you _failed _to do not the other way around."

She sighed, "Fine."

"Good girl!" he said in a baby-voice, pinching her cheek.

She slapped his hand away, "Shut it."

They both smirked at each other.

"Now, come on girlie, we're gonna head to Grandma Witch's house."

"Does this person actually like you?"

_***45 Minutes Later***_

"So, add _her _to the growing list of people you've majorly pissed off."

"Hey, I never did anything to her girlie."

"I'm sure." she said sarcastically.

As they walked back into the house, Damon overheard Stefan arguing with Anna over the phone, so he sped off to listen further. He listened closely to Anna's instructions, and when Stefan hung up and turned to him he said,

"Go ahead. Grovel again. Oh, wait, no." He paused. "I don't care."

Damon began to walk out when Katy pushed passed him, walked up to Stefan grabbing his wrist, and slamming a piece of paper in his palm.

"Anna's current residence." she replied to his look of confusion, "Me and Damon went there last night, and I looked it up on Damon's cell just now. God bless the bastard who created Google."

"How do you know that was Anna's place?" Damon asked rhetorically.

Katy turned around, meeting his smirk with a sour look on her face, "Damon, contrary to popular belief I'm not stupid."

"Thank you Katy." Stefan said running out.

Once he left, Damon sneered slightly at Katy. She rolled her eyes and tossed him back his phone, which he caught with ease.

"Pretty bold of you, helping him _in front _of me. Not looking good for your probation so far."

"Wow, if someone heard that out of context it would get _really _awkward in here." he smirked at her, "Well, I figure since _you've _put me on probation, _I _should put my heart on my sleeve."

"Couldn't you just suck up?"

"That's Stefan's gig, I have my own."

"And what would that be?"

"Answering stupid questions apparently."

He laughed slightly, walking over to her as she sat down on the couch. She gave him an expectant look, to which he replied,

"Yes?"

"Well; Stefan left, you established your daily 'couldn't care less' attitude... Go talk to Anna." Damon went to respond but she cut him off, "You don't fool me. Go. Right now."

"You're not the boss of me."

"Yes I am."

"Why?"

"Because it's 'A lady's choice, and a gentleman's agreement', so I make the decisions and you agree."

He made no remarks, his facial expression didn't change either. He only stood up, stared down at the auburn-haired girl a moment, until he finally smirked.

"You really are smarter then I give you credit for." he complimented, tousling her hair for a second.

She blew a piece of hair that had fallen from her face, smiled, and replied, "Yes please stop doing that."

Damon left shortly after; though, unbeknownst to Katy, took out Toby Marshall's number from his pocket and stared at it thinking,

_Well, it's not like she'd be surprised. What would _I _do with a kid?_

And then he started dialing the number on his cell.

_***Katy's POV***_

I waited for Damon to return, texting Joelle on Stefan's cell to keep myself occupied. As you can probably tell by now, the Brothers Salvatore have a habit of leaving their phones around, which bodes well for me-since I had been lacking one since my parents died. I suppose phones wouldn't be as useful to them as the rest of us, considering if they really wanted to talk to someone they could just speed over.

Okay, in general, Joelle and I have little to nothing in common:

I have no family.

She has two healthy happy parents, and six older brothers-no surprise why her parents are sitll _happy_ *nudge* *nudge* *wink* *wink*.

I listen to a mix of Emilie Autumn, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Avril Lavigne, and Katy Perry (and yes, with a bit of Taylor Swift too).

Joelle owns a T-shirt that says "Future Mrs. Bieber" and listens to him, Miranda Cosgrove-I think that's her name, and gets most of her Ipod songs from Disney Channel-none of which involve Phineas and Ferb mind you.

I have little talent or interest in sports.

She has already been to three dance schools, joined four or five sports teams, and this is her third cheer-leading team.

She knows what the words 'boot-cut' and 'land-lovers' mean...

I rapidly changed to the subject.

But aside from she wears cheer-skirts, I wear funny T-shirts, we had one thing in common at least.

Confusion.

Confusion about life more precisely, and about different aspects for each of us, of course. But her confusion is centered around what she should do about Bianca that doesn't involve hitting her with a mallet-my suggestion after arsenic, while mine is centered around my new 'home'. And even though I didn't understand her reasons for being as lenient towards the bitch, Joelle was a kind and comforting person to talk to, and made me feel very good by listening-or reading- intently when it was my turn.

I don't like the idea of spilling my guts to someone about my issues, it makes me uncomfortable. It was partly from fear of spilling too many details, and partly because I didn't like the idea of sounding like a stereotypical drama queen who wouldn't shut up.

At first I kept dodging but Joelle skillfully managed to make me talk about them, and at some point refused to go on without talking about my issues. So I made up a story to cover the real truth, and she listened, but not without a few stomach-churning comments.

_B and the gurls told me ur dad was REALLY cute! XD, _she texted and I couldn't help but imagine her saying that in a Ke$ha voice.

I rolled my eyes and replied back, _Jo, please don't say that! He's not my father and even so he's close enough right now to make that disgusting to me._

_But itz true!_

_Yeah and so are the threats from my lunch! p_

_*sighs* fine but why dont u wanna live w/ him? He dont seem too bad from wat u said & he seems to care about you!_

I quirk my eyebrows as I respond, _what do u mean CARE?_

She replied back quickly, _Well u both seem to lk chattin a lot. & u appear to hav bonded girl! :)_

_Thatz just banter! _I text, _Try again_

_Well he seemed to forgive you pretty quickly for lying to him about that house thing!_

I had told her that Stefan and Elena found some old deeds to a summer house and left to Damon his father, and that they were trying to hide it from him because Stefan wanted to sell it off...

It didn't _sound _bad when I made it up.

_I didn't lie to him! He knows that! I just neglected to tell him is all_

_Still... _She texted back, _it must have been pretty important to him, especially since he's trying to get back together with his girlfriend now. Seems to me like something real hard to forgive easy._

The fact that Joelle of all people is saying that is hilarious to me, and I snort before I respond,

_He's got me on 'probation' & he's only doing it because he doesn't care enough to hold a grudge._

_Oh yeah and I suppose he doesn't care enough to give you the chance he's giving you either right? JEEZ!_

I laugh at her response, and try to text her back when Damon appeared in front of me suddenly.

"JE-YAY-SUS man!" I said, startled.

He gave me a weird look at the voice I put on and took the phone from my hand setting it aside.

I sighed, "So how'd it go?"

"Made plans to meet at the cemetery tonight. Join forces."

"You're really gonna work with her?"

"Well, might as well."

"What if she tries to kill you?"

"Then I kill her."

I shook my head, "Alright then, when do we leave?"

"You _want_ to come?"

"Well, nothing's good on TV tonight." he didn't reply, "Come on after all this time I've _more _then proven myself to be capable of taking care of myself."

He nodded, "You have."

"So?"

"You can come. But you have to follow my rules, or you'll die."

"What else is new?" I said sarcastically, "What's the danger?"

_***A Few Hours Later***_

Damon explained to me the threats posed by the vampires in the tomb, but explained that by now they were basically corpses too weak to move, so they probably wouldn't pose much of a threat if I didn't step too close. He also explained Anna and her buddy to me, telling me to keep some at easy access during our time with them.

He told me not to go into the tomb, and that once they got it open he would go in, grab Katherine and be out. He'd told Anna that she wasn't allowed to endanger me since I was on their side, all I had to do was keep out of trouble.

We waited a while to go, not saying much after he established the rules and only exchanged some quips now and then as he drank some whiskey.

"Do you think you'll combust and die if you stop drinking?" I asked as he poured himself another glass.

He took a sip as he thought a second, "Blood or alcohol?"

"Alcohol genius."

"No." He smirked, taking another sip, "Just less pleasant to live with."

"God help us." I murmured then smiled slightly.

He looked at his cell phone for a minute, "Time to go, grab your coat and vamptonite."

I nodded and rushed up to my room grabbing my duffle-bag and jacket.

I felt nervous as I reluctantly walked back down the stairs. This was what I'd been hoping for in a way, to never have to be the one to tell Damon about Katherine. And yet, I felt more guilty and nervous by the second.

_It couldn't hurt anyone right? _I thought, _They would go in quickly, see she's gone and get rid of the other vampires for good, what's wrong with that?_

_Damon's reaction?_

_What would he do? Or worse, what poor bitch would he do it to?_

_Aren't I being selfish? Not telling him that is, this is just like the Grimoire thing only worse!_

_How could I just leave him to get his heart broken?_

I pondered these questions as I walked down the stairs, until I heard Damon's voice talking to someone, which pulled me out of my thoughts.

"I'm trusting you." He said, "Don't make me regret it."

I got to the bottom of the stairs to see Elena with Damon. They both turned to me as I walked towards them.

"Katy," Damon smirked, "we got some new recruits."

Once Elena quickly told me about the recent alliance between her and Damon, we headed off to the cemetery which was crowded with people.

"The Duke party, I forgot." Elena said worriedly, "I hope they stay clear of the church."

"Your hope not mine." Damon replied uncaring.

"Elena!" a voice called out, turning out to be the blond from earlier and a blond boy I'd seen at the Grill; he seemed less than enthusiastic, especially when the girl put her hand in his as she tried talking to Elena.

I rolled my eyes thinking, _Dude! She doesn't have cooties, grow a pair!_

"Long story, no time to tell it." Damon responded, cutting Elena off.

"I wasn't asking you-"

"Sure you were." He smirked.

The boy stepped into the conversation, "We haven't met. I'm Matt."

"Matt. There's a reason we have met." Damon sneered, grabbing Elena's arm, "We are going _that _way."

He started pulling her off while she tried to apologize for his attitude to the other two. Before I followed, I noticed their confused looks and said, "Don't mind us, we're, just, crazy-bye!"

Then I caught up to Damon and Elena saying, "You know Damon, next time just put 'em out to measure, it'll save us time."

He only smirked and dragged us on. When we got to a certain distance he whistled loudly alerting Stefan, Bonnie, and Sheila up ahead.

"Brother, witches." He greeted.

Elena finally was released from his grip and moved towards me.

"Everything okay?" Stefan asked her.

"I just want to get this over with. Are we ready?"

"I guess so." Bonnie said.

I bit my lip, not really ready for what would inevitably come afterwards.

"Air." Sheila said, lighting a torch, then continued, "Earth. Fire."

"Water."

She took a bottle of water from Bonnie's hand and began pouring it by one of the four torches.

"That's it? Just water from the tap?"

"As opposed to what?"

"I just figured it would have to be blessed- or mystical- or something." Elena said.

"Yeah." I nodded, "But we are dealing with vampires, so at least we weren't asked to cough up a virgin... Not that we could find one."

"Don't be so jaded dear." Sheila said, looking at both Bonnie and Elena, "I certainly _hope _there's no reason to doubt that aspect of this day and age."

Damon smirked while Stefan and the girls shifted uncomfortably under Sheila's gaze, and she continued the spell.

"What's that?" Stefan asked, making everyone notice the blood-bag he'd been unraveling.

"It's for Katherine. Gotta have something to get her going. Unless your girl's offering a vein to tap."

Elena looked at me as if to say "Do you approve of this?"

I just shrugged, "Don't look at me. I'm surprised he hasn't stuck _me _in one of those things yet."

"Why are you standing by him?" she asked, "Why are you so accepting of this?"

"I'm not." I said, "But quite frankly, he's my ride."

She shook her head slightly, then Bonnie told us it was time. They began to chant for a few minutes, the language of which confounded even the walking history books apparently. Then the flames of the torches blazed up, startling both me and Elena.

"What's happening?"

"Some crazy shit." I nodded to myself in slight wonder.

Suddenly the door of the tomb opened loudly.

"It worked!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Of course it worked."

Damon turned to Stefan and me, "Don't you have some fires to build?"

He nodded, "I'm gonna get the gasoline, I'll be right back."

"I'll come with." I said, following him up the stairs.

We got up to the cemetery gathering the gasoline and flamethrower, but were stopped by the voice of a guy I'd seen bar-tending at the Grill. He was across from us a couple yards and had a very cocky smile on his face.

"I thought I told you to leave."

"I considered it." The guy said, "Then I thought, screw you."

"Hey hero!" Another voice called from behind us, this turned out to be a girl-presumably Anna- who looked like a female Asian Damon by her outfit.

"I'm going down there to get my mother."

"I can't let you do that." Stefan said.

"Well, Ben's about to make a main course out of Elena's little brother, so you can stop me or him. Your choice."

I glared at her and went to make a run for Steve and Ben, but Stefan clamped a hand on my shoulder.

"Sorry kiddo." She said, "You're unevenly matched. See ya later."

She sped off after leaving us with Ben and Jeremy (A/N: haha, get it? It's funny because-oh screw it lol jk), the first of which was still smiling like a doofus.

"Do you really think she cares about you? Hmm?" He asked Ben, "You're _disposable._"

"I don't care. She already gave me what I want."

"You're gonna say 'eternal life'? You're really that stupid?"

"Clearly Stef, or else he wouldn't be some bitch's _little _bitch."

Ben smiled wider, still cocky, walking towards us, "You know, I've heard about you." He spared a split second glance at me, "Both of you. You don't feed, and you're human."

He almost laughed and continued, "You're not strong enough to beat me."

Just then he sped towards us, I grabbed the stake from my jacket in time as he grabbed my arm, jamming the stake into his elbow. Stefan pulled me out of his grasp and pushed me towards Steve, and Ben in the opposite direction. I ran over to Jer, relieved when I saw no bite marks and that he was still breathing, then looked up to see Ben snapping my stake in half and grinning.

"Is that all ya got?"

"No." Stefan grabbed the flamethrower, "I got this."

And you will never see a smile wipe off faster then that moment Ben put the pieces together. Once he was up in flames, Stefan grabbed everything and headed back to the tomb. I dragged Steve to a tree and sat him up there, then ran back to the tomb too.

"Opening the door didn't remove the seal, it just, opened the door." I heard Sheila say as I started to come down.

"What's the seal?"

"Some seals keep vampires from entering. This one keeps them from..." She paused, "Coming out."

"Elena's human. She can leave. Anna and Katherine can't." He paused, "Damon can't."

"No." I whispered to myself.

"You weren't planning on breaking the spell, were you?"

"I told you." she said, "I will protect my own."

I came out of my hiding space and said sternly, "Get him out."

"No." She said, "Elena can get out, that's all that matters."

"Get him out!" I yelled.

Suddenly we heard Elena scream, and both Stefan and I ran inside; I only vaguely remember Bonnie calling out our names. Stefan had sped in so quickly I couldn't follow, and I ended up in the dark.

"Damon!" I called out.

I got no response and tried to move in the dark but tripped forward, feeling a sharp pain in my ankle as I did so. I let out a hiss at the pain and quickly got up, rushing forward more carefully.

"Damon!"

_***Third Person's POV***_

After Stefan had gotten Elena to safety outside, and been told to get Damon and Katy before time was up, he rushed inside finding Damon first. He was pacing angrily around the room murmuring to himself.

"Damon." Stefan said when he found him.

"She's not here."

Stefan looked taken aback and it took him a minute to reply, "What?"

"SHE'S NOT HERE!" Damon yelled throwing the blood-bag at the wall.

In the distance Stefan heard Elena warning him to get out. He turned to his brother and urged him to leave, but Damon was in such shock and confusion that he just kept murmuring to himself.

"If we don't leave now, we're never getting out!"

"How could she not be in here?" He murmured.

"It's not worth spending all of eternity down here! She's not worth it!"

"No!"

"Damon!" Elena called, appearing at the door, "Please."

He stared at her for a moment almost thinking she was Katherine for a second. He then started to follow them out mindlessly, then Elena said to Stefan, "I can't find her. Where is she?"

And he knew they were talking about Katy, and his ears perked up as he heard a pained cry,

"Damon!"

He sped off to follow her voice and found her blindly fighting off a vampire who had been feeding on her ankle. She got him to stop by slamming vervain in his face, but could see another weakly crawling up behind her and aiming for her neck.

Damon grabbed Katy, helping her to the door which closed behind them seconds after they were out. He let Katy drop to the ground and examine her bleeding ankle. Stefan and Elena were locked in a tight embrace, sighing with relief, but Damon only looked blank and broken down. When Katy saw his face her heart heavied, and she felt guiltier then ever before.

Stefan drove Katy back to the Boarding House, she remained silent and barely looked at him the whole way there. Once they got inside, she slumped sadly back to her room.

"Katy."

She turned slowly to look at Stefan.

"What's wrong? Is it your wound?"

"Sure." then she slumped back upstairs without and word.

By the time Damon returned, Katy was in bed, and Stefan was still waiting up for him. Damon said nothing and simply sat down in front of the fireplace staring into the flames.

"I just got to Bonnie's." Elena said over the phone.

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah." she paused, "How's Damon? Is he gonna be okay?"

Stefan sighed, "I don't know. Can I call you later?"

"Yeah of course."

He hung up and slowly went to sit by his brother, not knowing what to say to comfort him, but needing to be there all the same. They sat there for hours, not saying a word, until Damon slowly walked upstairs to his room.

And there, sitting on his bed, was a entire pile of liquor from his stash with a slip of paper on top. The note read:

_You'll need these._

_Katy_

He picked up one of the bottles and started to drink it, Then he heard whimpering in Katy's room and sped off to find out what happened.

She was sleeping under her bed as usual, but she was having a nightmare. She kept tossing and turning, whimpering and hyperventilating. Damon took a swig of the whiskey he'd been drinking and managed to shake off Katy's vervain ring, then he went into her mind.

_He watched her dreams as an invisible spectator, not a guise he normally went under when he did this but that's what he did this time. _

_Right now, he was standing outside a large mansion-sized white house, which was secluded but by looking around he could tell it wasn't too far off from what looked like the suburbs._

_He was about to walk into the house when a little grey car pulled up. He walked towards it instead, and saw-not much to his surprise- Katy, and two people he assumed were her parents. He could see the resemblance with the father's eyes being bluer than Katy's but similar in shape, and her mother's facial structure was almost a grown-up version of her's too._

_And he had to admit Katy's mom was damn hot!_

_He saw Katy getting out of the backseat filled with moving boxes, and going to help her parents unload the trunk of coolers. They opened the coolers to check on what was revealed to be blood-bags, and her dad began counting them up._

_"Is that all?" He asked once he finished counting._

_"Yeah. Now come on, let's get this over with, we've got a ways to go."_

_"Mom are you sure you don't want some help with this one? You got twice as much as usual, I could help bring it in."_

_Her mother smiled, giving her a side-hug, "No sweetie, I don't want you anywhere in that house."_

_Katy nodded reluctantly in response while her mom took a small vial from her pocket and gulped it down. Her father made a face at this and asked,_

_"How can you drink that stuff straight?"_

_"I imagine holes in my throat."_

Vervain, _Damon thought to himself._

_"Well, I say just carry it, we do own pockets."_

_"Well, _you'll _be singing a different tune when they're picking bits of your carotid artery out of their teeth."_

_Evidently__, he was living with the improvement of Katy's morbidity._

_Anyway, her father handed her the keys, kissed her forehead and helped her in the car._

_"Stay out here and wait for us. We'll be in there for about a half hour. Do you remember where the vervain is?"_

_"No, I forgot after 5 years remembering."_

_"Katy..." He said sternly._

_"Glove compartment, stakes are under Mom's seat in a box."_

_"Good girl."_

_They left after, leaving Katy in the locked car, who was in fact reading 'New Moon'. He rolled his eyes at her choice in reading material and waited next her, getting bored in waiting for something to happen. Suddenly, he heard crashing and yelling from the house, and Katy seemed to hear it too. He watched her look up from her reading and look helplessly at the house. _

_She flinched visibly as the lights in one of the upper rooms flickered and more crashing was heard. She started to whimper slightly as he mother's distinguished voice shouted, "Adam! Adam!"_

_A bigger crash, loudest of all, frightened Katy who dropped to the floor of car and curled up into the fetal position crying. She heard her mother screaming and more crashing about, and she started to whisper, "God help them... Please God help them!"_

_Then the crashing stopped, and so did the screaming. She seemed to be listening to the silence for a moment, slowly coming up to peer out the window at the house, still shaking. _

_A minute or two later, three men came out the front door, parts of their person covered in blood. _

_Katy didn't move from her spot, her eyes barely peering over the bottom of the car window. As she looked at the men, the one in the middle spotted her, and she tensed in place. The other two noticed her too as the man looked at her, one of them tried to walked towards her but the one who saw her first stopped him. Then he smiled and tipped his head politely to her, as if things were perfectly normal, then they all disappeared._

_She calmed herself enough to grab a large handful of vervain and three stakes from the box under the seat. She got out of the car and ran towards the house, and when she opened the front door she shouted, "Dad!"_

_But she took one step and heard a crack, and looked down to see one half of her father's spectacles._

_She looked up, horrified, and ran upstairs screaming, "Dad! Mom! Dad!"_

_She ran up passed dead vampire bodies in the hallway, and ran to a room that looked like a hurricane had hit._

_"Da-" she cut herself off screaming as she saw her father's corpse, hanging off a wall, mangled and almost unrecognizable except for the other half of his glasses neatly placed on him._

_"No..." she cried, "No!"_

_Tears streamed down her face, and she kept choking on her own breath as she looked at him. Then she turned to see her mother, seemingly unconscious on the ground._

_"Mom!"_

_Katy dropped to her mother's side and began looking briefly for wounds, finding none she began CPR to try and revive her._

_"Mom wake up!" she pleaded, getting no response, "Wake up!"_

_Again her mother didn't move, and now Katy stopped regular CPR and just kept slamming her fist down on her mother's chest screaming, "Wake up! Wake up!" over and over again._

_"There's nothing wrong with you! Get up!" she screamed._

_She grabbed her arm and tried to pull her up she finally noticed two things: How cold her mother's skin was, and her disconnected neck._

_When she saw that, she dropped back to her mother's side, looking briefly between her father and her._

_"Mommy... Daddy... I'm so sorry..."_

_And for the next few minutes, she just repeated herself, dazed and drained, "I'm sorry..."_

_Slowly, sirens were heard in the distance, and continued to get louder signalling their arrival. When it got to a certain point, Katy took off her mother's engagement ring, putting it in her pocket. Then she reluctantly walked over to her father, trying to get his wedding ring off his finger, but the bones were badly broken so she couldn't._

_She heard the door downstairs crash open, and she slowly walked downstairs with her hands held up to see the police._

And then he was right back where he started; standing in front of the white house, the little grey car pulling up, and Katy's parents going in.

So having no desire to see the same things again, he got out of her head, waking her up afterwards, then compelling her before she could respond.

"You will never dream that again, you will remember it how you already know it, but you will never dream it again. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"Good. Now you will not remember me compelling you and think you went to sleep and after the nightmare it stopped and you dreamt something nice. And you are going to fall asleep now until morning."

She barely nodded her head in response before she fell asleep, now peaceful and calm. Damon adjusted the covers around her, and stayed a few minutes to make sure she didn't have another nightmare.

As he quietly left her room, still drinking his bottle of whiskey, he decided he was being far too caring for his liking.


	18. Confessions

**A/N: Sorry this was late guys I started a new cleaning gig, my big sister's birthday is coming up and I wanted to update the chapters after more before I published it. Next one will be ready next Tuesday, hope you enjoy them all!**

**Please review! Reviews are love! And Cookies! And Chocolate-okay I'm done :D**

Chapter 17  
>Confessions<p>

_***Third Person's POV***_

"Alaric's wife might have been your mother?"

Elena sighed, "It can't be true, right? I mean, the coincidence alone is just crazy. I have the address for her friend Trudie."

"You wanna talk to her?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. I… I-I don't know. If it's true and they are the same person, that means that my birth mother is dead, and I don't know if I could handle that."

She looked at the ground, frustrated, until Stefan replied,

"Elena, did Jenna tell you anything about Alaric's wife? How she died?"

"Just that she was killed and the case was never solved." She noticed him nod slightly to himself, "You knew that already?"

"The night at the school when he attacked me, he told me some things about her death."

"Well-"

"No, no, no-it's not possible. The coincidence is—it's too much." She nodded, he continued, "Now, listen, if you do decide to go talk to Isobel's friend, I'll go with you. Ok?"

"I just don't know what I'm gonna do yet." He gave her a nod in response and she hugged him, looking for some comfort.

After a minute Stefan announced, "I should get going. I gotta go deal with Damon."

"How's he doing?"

"He's dealing, in his," he looked briefly for the word, "own way."

Suddenly the doorbell rang, followed by a small knock at the front door. Elena and Stefan looked at each other a second, then went to get it, she answered the door to reveal Katy.

"Hey."

"Hey, Katy, what are you doing here?"

"Can I hang out here for a little while?"

"Sure." She replied, "What's going on?"

Katy hesitated slightly before answering, "Damon's grief counselors arrived."

Loud music blared throughout the Salvatore residence, as Damon fed on one of the four or five girls he'd brought home to 'party with-most of which were fairly indisposed by that point.

"How do I taste?" asked the girl he was currently feeding on.

He stopped to take a breath and moaned, "Oh, so much better than your friends. But shh…" He started to whisper, "Don't tell them, they might get jealous."

Just then Stefan walked in, unamused as usual, coming towards Damon.

"No, Buzzkill Bob." He groaned, "Greetings."

"Can we talk?"

"Yeah!"

He briefly scanned the room, "Without the Tri-Delts."

"Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of them." He smirked, "They're really good at keeping secrets."

Stefan remained unamused; Damon reluctantly walked over to a separate area, leaving his 'guests' to relax.

"You're worried about me. That's nice. Don't be." He said seriously for a second, 'There's no need, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? Spent the last 145 years with one goal, get in that tomb. Granted, Katherine wasn't in there to be rescued, no, it's so liberating not to have a master plan because I can do whatever the hell I want."

"That's kind of what I'm afraid of."

"Relax." Damon said, nonchalantly, "I haven't killed anyone in-too long."

Stefan looked into the next room, "Those girls?"

"Will end up in their dorm-with headaches, think they blacked out. Business as usual." He turned to look at his brother, "Predictable you didn't pull me over here for a pep talk. So drink up, spill it brother. Come to try and convince me to dump the resident twelve year old again?"

"You haven't thought about it?"

Damon only shrugged in response.

"There was a woman you may have know a few years back, named Isobel in North Carolina at Duke."

"You wanna discuss the women in my past right now? Seriously?"

"You killed her."

"What's your point?"

"I just- I just wanna know if you remember anything about her."

"Oh it's like a needle in a haystack, Stefan."

"Well think hard." He replied, "It's important."

Damon took Stefan by the shoulders and whispered in his ear, "Nothing is important. Not anymore."

He started walking away, "Great chat. I have to go and exploit some women in the name of grief, which I'm sure you understand. 'TTFN' said the Tri-Delt. Heh.

_***Katy's POV***_

"So Katy, how are you?" Elena asked, pouring herself some coffee.

"Fine." I took a bite of my cookie the asked nervously, "How's Bonnie?"

She sighed, "I don't know, I called but she didn't answer."

I nodded, looking into my glass of milk absentmindedly; Elena seemed to notice something was off and asked,

"Katy are you okay?"

"Huh?"

"You look stressed, what's wrong?" she pressed.

"Nothing, just funerals-bad blood, you know?" then took a long sip of my milk.

"Katy…" she said sternly; when I tried to take another sip, she practically ripped the glass from my hand, "What's wrong?"

"You're about to lose a finger from taking food away from me?"

"You're dodging. Katy tell me now, or I'm calling Damon."

"You think he could do anything now of all times?"

"Does something have to be done?"

I didn't want to tell her-well, actually I did, and it was driving me mad. All I wanted was to rant and rave, because it was eating me up inside, I could barely take it. Maybe it was because I'd been so comfortable with the half-truths I told Joelle, or maybe I was just that pathetic.

I was doing my best to calm down and retain my stone faced sarcasm, and it appeared to be working until I realized I'd been crushing my cookie to crumbs.

I looked down at the crumbs on the table, then back up at Elena who was giving me a look. After this there was no way I could convince her of anything but negatives.

I felt my chest and shoulders tense as I went to speak, "I-kn-knew."

She looked confused, "Knew what?"

"About Katherine. Pretty much since I got here."

Her eyes widened, and it took her a minute to understand.

"I ran into her, thought she was you until Lexi filled me in-she made me promise not to tell. She said Stefan and Damon were crazy when it came to her. I didn't know what to do-"

"You needed to tell us katy; after all this to get her out or keep her in this could've been avoided!"

"I know-"

"Katy Bonnie's grandmother-"

"I KNOW!" I screamed.

Elena stopped and looked at me, somewhat shocked, and waited for me to continue.

"I know…" I said, my voice angry but quiet, "I didn't think that could happen, I didn't understand that it took so much energy to do that. I thought it was opening a door, and even if Sheila was out of practice Bonnie was younger, I didn't think it was anything more."

I took a moment to breath, "And then I realized, not even afterwards, I figured it out during-but I was-AM! Too chicken shit to do anything even for others! And it makes me sick, thinking about how I did that to a person. I'm a coward! I prayed every night it wasn't true, that it would stop, but nothing! I am a good-for-nothing! I hurt people! I hurt Sheila, and Bonnie, and you, and my parents, and Damon, and God knows how many others!"

By now I'm crying, and I'm gripping the side of my hair in anger.

"I didn't want to hurt him." I whimpered, tears streaming down my red face, "I didn't want to hurt anyone! I knew what was right and I screwed it up anyway! And now, people are dying! People are dying because of me! AND I HATE IT! I HATE MYSELF! I HATE THE COWARD I AM! I HATE THAT I KILLED PEOPLE! THEY AREN'T JUST DYING ON ME! I KILLED THEM! I KILLED THEM!..."

I can't talk anymore; all I can and want to do is cry. So I curled my arms around my head-which I sat on the table, and I just let it all out. Not bothering to look at Elena by now.

Then shockingly enough, after a minute or two, I felt arms wrap around mine-holding me in a comforting embrace, and one hand gently brushed the top of my hair soothingly.

The surprise I felt wasn't enough to pull me out of my fit, so Elena just kept holding me and murmuring things like, "Shh, it's okay… It's alright… You're okay… Let it out…" and so on.

Despite the fact all those were far from reality, they were soothing, and even managed to calm me down some.

"Katy, I'm so sorry, what you're going through is-awful. It's rough, and it hurts." She said, "I lost my parents too. I was with them in the car when they crashed into the lake. I didn't know until recently, but, Stefan saved me. But he couldn't save them… I couldn't save them."

I sniffled, changing my position so I was hugging her back.

"Katy, you are not a coward. You are one of the bravest kids I have ever met, probably the bravest!" she exclaimed, "You're just scared… And I don't think you're used to that. But it happens to everyone, no matter who we are. And you need to accept that."

"But I killed Bonnie's grandmother-"

"No, you didn't." she said sternly, "You should've told us, there's no question about that. But you did _not _kill her. Get that out of your mind."

"I don't wanna hurt people anymore…"

"I know. You need some help Katy; you can't always rely on yourself. But you need to learn to face your mistakes. You need to tell Damon what you told me-" I tried to protest but she went on quickly, "You've got to tell him, you need to heal, and you need to ask for forgiveness if necessary."

I knew she was right, reluctant as I was, I knew I would never have any peace if I didn't confess.

So, with some encouragement and another cookie, I agreed to tell Damon tonight at the bachelor auction.

And I'm willing to admit, I was absolutely horrified and shaking with fear at the thought.

_***At The Grill***_

Elena dropped me off at the Grill, and while I waited for Damon and Stefan to arrive, I dreaded the next few hours and what I need to do when they arrived.

In the meantime, I texted Nate, and once again we had a fun conversation-in which we stated throwing around random witty phrases we'd heard.

_You must have been born on a highway, cause that's where most accidents happen. _I texted.

_I once thought the brain was the most important organ, but then I realized who was telling me. _He replied.

_If you were twice as smart, you'd still be stupid._

_If I agreed with you we'd both be wrong._

_I'm trying to see things from your point of view, but I can't get my head that far up my ass._

_You're so ugly Hello Kitty said goodbye to you._

"Hey Katy!"

I looked up to see Elena sitting down beside me at the table, looking slightly frazzled.

"Hey." I greeted turning off the phone.

"Is that Stefan's phone?"

"yeah I don't have my own so I took it to text my friend Nate."

"Ooh Nate, do you like him?" she smiled.

"I gave her a half smile and said, "Yeah kinda."

"Ohh," she said in a velley-girl voice, then laughed, "Where'd you meet him?"

"Decade dance, he's a freshmen."

"Really?" she askd, surprised, "Kinda old for you isn't he?"

I gave her a look, "Do you _wanna _go there?"

"You're right." She laughed, them looked to see the blond pair from the cemetery, "Hey come on! You should meet Caroline and Matt, officially."

I groaned, 'No! People!"

"Come on!"

So she introduced us; Matt was pretty awkward, and Caroline was hyperactive but she seemed alright. But they did tend to forget I was standing right there a lot, I guess close friends get caught up sometimes.

"He's already been hit on, like, 35 times. He's total cougar bait." Caroline announced.

"Impressive."

"More like embarrassing." Matt smiled.

_Yeah sure_, I thought.

"Hi, Mrs. Donovan!" Caroline greeted happily.

The woman who arrived was bout in her mid-forties (though she dressed younger), curled brown hair, and dramatic make-up. She barely glanced at Caroline before she turned to Elena with a smile.

"Elena, honey!"

She smiled back and hugged her, "Hi Kelly."

"Long time, no see."

"How are you doing?"

"Oh, same old. Oh. Matty tells me you broke his heart."

"Mom!"

"Just kidding. Calm down." She turned back to Elena, "He found his rebound girl."

She gave a nod to Caroline and the first thing that entered my mind was,

_Imma punch this bitch!_

To weakly satisfy that urge I glared intently at her, she either ignored me or was air-headed enough not to notice. She finally looked at Care for longer than a second, handing her some money.

"Oh. Here you go, sweetheart. However many that'll buy. I just hope I don't get bachelor 3. Dated him in high school. Not impressive. _In any way_." We all laughed a little except for Matt; Kelly got her tickets and smiled briefly at me saying, "Very exciting!"

Then she left, unfortunately with her nose intact.

Elena gave Caroline a sympathetic look, and I did the same, she only looked intently at the cashbox and tickets. I felt truly bad for her, I mean, I may be a bitch but at least I have a reason.

Then I saw Damon talking-well, flirting more like-with Mrs. Lockwood, I gulped and nervously walked towards them.

_Good, he's got a drink in his hand… Wait no, that can't be good-I hope he passes out before I reach them!_

Just then he left Mrs. Lockwood to speak with the Sheriff.

_Okay, I'll take what I can get._

But as I turned to leave Mrs. Lockwood called me over, I only stood in place as she came over.

"Katy," she smiled, "So nice to see you. Are you enjoying your stay with the Salvatores?"

"Tolerably."

Her smile faded, "Just tolerably?"

"What else do you expect?"

"Well, I don't know-I just thought you two would be so attached by now, probably tell each other everything-"

"Ladies." Damon greeted, appearing suddenly.

"Damon." She said, her smile instantly back, "Are you ready now? We're starting soon."

"Absolutely. Hey, I think this glass needs refreshing, would you mind terribly if-"

"No, of course not." She replied grabbing the glass, smiling now as if she's just met the king (whether that king was Elvis or a monarch was never determined), "I'll be right back."

I gave an impressed look and smiled slightly, "Thanks. Who knew it was so easy to make the queen of Mystic Falls act as a barmaid."

"Well in my experience, barmaids are much more _promiscuous_." He smirked.

"Well, the night is young, and she's only two drinks in."

He smiled and side-hugged my head, "That's my girl!"

_Okay Me: 0 Guilt: 1,702… And a half._

"Damon, I need to talk to you." I rushed.

_He doesn't have a drink in his hand, I'm not getting out alive._

"Everyone wants to talk!" He groaned.

_Last words; 'Live from New York it's Saturday Night!' no, no too long. 'In Omnia Paratus!' no too obscure-No! Focus!_

"I knew Katherine was out before we opened the tomb." I said quickly.

He was stunned to silence, his vague amusement gone, and he did not move.

"I met her about two days or so after I arrived. I didn't know at first, but then I ran into her again, by then informed of who she was and her-significance to you. I made a promise not to tell, and I didn't know how much trouble keeping the secret would cause. And I was scared to tell you, because you've become a great friend to me. And I'm sorry, you have no idea how much I wish I could take it all back." I paused, "I'm sorry."

He kept silent, so quiet and still it was eerie, I wanted to run and hide. Better yet I wanted to cry and pray.

He took a step forward, and I tensed, so much my jaw ached. It took all my energy to keep a whimper from escaping.

But all he did was walk passed me and leave me by myself.

_Is it possible to feel worse than right now?_

The auction went on I felt like crap since Damon hadn't spoken or acknowledged me since I told him. I didn't blame him, but I felt like I wanted to die. Even Jenna noticed and managed to make me admit I felt awful, though she wouldn't know why.

Afterwards I barely listened to the rest of the auction-but I heard Damon's inappropriate statements about Alaric's wife, and spent the rest of my time helping Caroline. She was a lot more agreeable then I would've thought, and I never would have guessed we'd become friends like we had.

My faith in karma had also been restored when I heard Kelly got bachelor 3. Of course it backfired since she had to come over to use, for some cracked reason Caroline was still being nice to her.

"Congratulations Mrs. Donovan." She smiled.

Kelly practically rolled her eyes, "Ok, just stop. Stop trying so hard. This thing you're doing, this nice thing, it's fake, like you, like your mom, and for some reason Matt feel for it but that doesn't mean I will. I don't like you, ok? So tell plumber boy I'll be at the bar. Ok."

Then she left, leaving me with an extending finger and Caroline with a hurt expression.

"Caroline, don't believe a thing that bitch says." I told her, "She's a horrible human being!"

"I'm a fake." She said sadly.

"No!" I looked over to Kelly at the bar, "Look over there."

She reluctantly did so.

"She has had five to six drinks already not including the two shots in front of her, she seems absolutely happy that people hate her, and she's named after a knock-off doll that people thought was cute for about 30 seconds. Do you know what that tells me?"

"No."

I took a breath before explaining, "There are certain people in this universe, most know them as 'douches'. Usually around high school, they think that devil-may-care attitudes, partying too much, and being unnecessarily rude to people they don't wanna bang makes them individual and call. Nothing bad usually hasn't happened to them to make them like that, they just think the more people who hate them the more they really wanna be like them-not true usually, but it helps them sleep at night."

"I think Kelly is just like that only worse now. She probably was how I described, but then life happened, her attitude never got her what she wanted. Now she's just bitter along with all the other stuff, unfortunately, she hasn't given up her attitude. Point is Care, the 'nice thing' is not fake, it's severe restraint."

She smiled a bit "I appreciate the thought Katy, thank you."

Then she hugged me, "No problem, any excuse to ball out a bitch."

I felt her laugh and I laughed along with her, that is until I saw Elena and Stefan rushing back inside grabbing her coat and purse, they looked pretty freaked out. So I pulled out of the hug quickly,

"Uh Care, sorry I need to go, Elena's heading out and she's my ride back home-stay strong!"

"Okay, bye." She barely got out before I sped off.

"Guys what happened?"

"My birth mother, she's-she's a vampire." Elena replied, looking like she was about to cry.

After an explanation, Elena allowed me to stay with her for the night, she said she could use the company and I didn't want to go home tonight.

She was quiet most of the time, generally just staring at the phone she took.

"Elena, call it." I said, "You know you want to."

She sighed, taking a minute before dialing; I listened closely as it rang, waiting for whoever it was to pick up.

"Was there a problem?" The voice asked, "Did you find her? What's going on?"

"Isobel?"


	19. Expectations

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Chapter 18  
>Expectations<p>

_***Third Person's POV***_

"Alright Mr. Salvatore, you are penciled in for 5 o'clock today. Will Ms. Branson be joining?"

"No." He answered into his cell.

"Alright then, have a good day." Without a word, Damon hung up and walked inside the house.

As he walked in, he noticed something was off; at first he couldn't quite put his finger on it, then he realized, someone was in the hose.

He walked further into the parlor where Pearl-now dressed in modern wear- and Anna sat.

"Hello Damon." The first greeted.

"Ever hear of knocking?"

"An invitation wasn't necessary. I'm surprised that no living person resides here. Is it just you and your brother?"

"Yeah." Anna answered for him, "There is a little human that stays here temporarily, but the little brat is leaving soon. She doesn't even sleep here anymore. How do you keep out unwelcome vampires?"

"Kill 'em." Damon sped up to Pearl and began trying to choke her, she remained unaffected and easily removed his hand, crushing it with her own, "Damn."

She then threw him off to the foot of a couch, "Have a seat, Damon. I was hoping we could have a word."

He sat on the couch, annoyed but at attention, "Sure."

_***Katy's POV***_

Since confessing I'd been staying with Elena, Jer, and Jenna; sneaking back into the Boarding house every once in a while for clothes and such.

I'd taken every precaution to avoid seeing Damon; I was scared of what might happen if we were in the same room for longer than a minute. I'd become much more sentimental and emotional-not to mention irrational, and I honestly hated how much I showed it. At least before I could come off as vaguely witty, one not to be messed with; now instead of getting angry and yelling I'd probably break down and cry.

So this went on for a week; I slept at the Gilbert's house, went to school, had lunch with Dex and Joelle, then repeat.

One day at school, I'd been unfortunate enough to be partnered with Bianca during Science after she made me want to shove my head into a wood chipper during History.

She spent the entire class trying to convince us the Underground Railroad was an actual railroad.

She was particularly annoying in Science; we were dealing with rock salt and learning how to crush it for edible use, and since the salty dust sprayed everywhere I kept sneezing repeatedly.

However, Bitc-Bianca, took this to me I was sick…

"Stop sneezing on me!" she scolded from across the table, "I don't wanna catch whatever you've got."

"Right back 'atcha." I muttered with another sneeze.

"Probably reacting to all those drugs you and Four-Eyed-Whore pilfer."

I groaned, biting back anger, "Oh! Shut. UP!"

"I mean like, shouldn't you be, like, used to it by now? When did your mom shove it down your throat anyway? Three? Four-"

I grabbed a small bit a rock and smashed it against the desk, instantly veering the teacher's attention toward us.

"Hey!" Mr. Gregory called, "What's going on over there?"

I sneezed as I replied, "I'm sorry, I'm severely allergic to _total _idiocy." I pointed to Bianca.

He sneered, unamused, "Well so am I, but I put up with you rascals every day."

"Every _week day_, sir, you don't do weekend detention. I imagine you go on a bender after dealing with us rascals." I smirked.

He walked up to us, "Ms. Weston, are you trying to start another scene like when you denied evolution?"

"No, no." I assured, "I've given it some thought, and I _totally _believe you were descended from an ape."

**DETENTION.**

Afterwards I was sent to wait outside while Damon was called in for a meeting with Principal Winthrop, then was asked to take me home early.

We sat in the car for almost a half hour without a word, he didn't even make a sound when I sat in the front seat, then again he also didn't blink in my direction.

I busied myself during the drive by randomly flipping my switchblade open and closed. At some point though, I could no longer take the silence; I cleared my throat and spoke,

"Damon… I'm sorry…"

I expected silence, but he replied to my surprise, "For what?" sarcasm poured from his lips, I could practically see coming through his shades even, "Lying to me? Putting everyone else in a difficult position by not telling? You gotta admit, that was _low_."

"I-"

"You know come to think of it, that's the second time you've stabbed me in the back, but I suppose _Lexi _was responsible for that too." He smirked.

My jaw started to quiver, "Damon-"

"Well what else can I expect? I finally see it, you're an immature twelve year old with a habit for lying and secrets."

_I won't cry! _I thought, _I won't give him the satisfaction!_

I clenched my jaw, "Thirteen."

"What?"

"I turned thirteen two weeks ago!" I muttered angrily.

Before he could reply, I looked briefly at the red light we stopped at, opened the car door and ran passed the Grill to Dex's house nearby."

_***Third Person's POV***_

Damon entered the Grill soon after Katy left, slumping down on a barstool with a sigh. Kelly sat a few seats away, staring intently at him.

"What's with the glasses inside?"

"My, um." He cleared his throat, taking off said glasses, "My eyes are a little sensitive today."

Kelly smiled flirtatiously, "You're new around here."

"Oh, on the contrary. I am very old." He turned to the bartender, "Bourbon, neat."

"I haven't been gone _that _long." She looked him over appreciatively, "I would remember someone who looked like you."

"Yeah? Where'd you go?"

"Around, about."

"Been there." He replied, taking a big gulp of his drink.

"I love to see a man drown his sorrows. It's so _sexy_."

"It's more like nursing my wounds." He took another swig, then looked to Kelly, 'And you?"

"Well I was supposed to be interviewing for the bartender job, but, uh, I think the manager blew me off." She nodded to herself.

"Well, that's not very nice."

"Yeah. Last time I was in town I slept with her boyfriend."

"Well, that's not very nice, either."

"It happens." She shrugged.

"Yes, it does."

"Kelly?" she turned to see Jenna walking over smiling, "Kelly Donovan."

They bother ran to hug each other; Jenna replied happily,

"Hey I heard you were back in town. You used to baby-sit me."

"And then I used to party with _her._" She told Damon.

"This woman is crazy." She laughed.

"Not as crazy as you." Kelly pointed out.

"Ha. Not anymore."

"Well sit, drink." She told her, seating herself back down.

"Uh, I shouldn't I'm all responsible now. Haven't you heard?"

"Well, take a night off. It's good for the soul."

"Great for the soul." Damon remarked. After Jenna sat down, they all took a drink, "Oh, wow."

"This is not gonna end well."

"Can't wait."

"Aren't you worried Katy will find out?" Jenna asked, referring to his drink-which he quickly skulled.

"Whose Katy? She's not a girlfriend is she?" Kelly asked suspiciously.

"No. She's his kid." She teased.

Kelly's eyes widened, "Really?"

"Yup." He said absently, "Only she's not mine, and she leaves in three months. Long story."

"Any chance she's got something to do with these shots?"

"Why do you ask?"

"She was looking pretty bummed at the auction, told me she felt like crap. And _also_, she's been sleeping on my couch for a week."

Damon didn't answer and just threw back another drink.

"Parenting blows." Kelly sighed.

"Tell me about it." Damon said, "I found out a half hour ago she's thirteen. Katy was twelve when she got here."

"Ooh!" Jenna cringed slightly.

"Forgot the B-day huh?"

"I never knew. She's made a habit of keeping secrets from me. She lies, we argue a bit. And to top it off, the love of my long pathetic life, just couldn't give a damn."

Jenna gave him a smile, "Don't be grumpy. It can't be that bad."

"You'd be surprised." He replied, pouring yet another drink, "My primary reason for existence has abandoned me and, after today's events, the remains of the shaky ground I walk on are about to go _ka-boom_."

Kelly watched him take another swig and perked up when he turned to her saying, "Let's get hammered."

"Let's." then they all clinked their shots together, then skulled them, "Whoo!"

They enjoyed themselves Damon, Kelly, and Jenna. That is, until the third finally noticed Matt and Elena on a double date with their significant others.

Her eyes widened as she leaned in closely to Kelly whispering,

"Quick, hide. We're not here."

Kelly whispered back, "Why? Where'd we go?"

"Children under our care at 5 o'clock. This is not role modelish."

Kelly briefly looked over to them, then leaned back to Jenna, "Damn. Ohh!"

"Damn indeed."

Both women shrieked slightly at Katy's sudden appearance.

"Katy!" Jenna said, breathing heavily to calm herself.

"This is Katy?"

"Yeah." She smirked, "You should've seen your faces."

"Are you trying to scare us?"

"Yeah kinda'." She shrugged.

"Why?" Kelly asked, slightly annoyed.

"'Cause I'm the child under _his _care." She pointed to Damon. Just then three sodas were given to her by the bartender, she took them and smiled slightly, "Gotta get these to the gang. Enjoy your hangovers."

"We will!" Kelly called as she left, Jenna gave her a look, "What? If she knows then Matty already does."

Damon looked briefly over to where Katy sat with Dex and Joelle, apparently playing a three-way-version of 'Guess Who?'.

"Does your person have glasses?"

"Yes." Dex answered.

"Does your person have the face of a goat?" Katy asked.

"Yes." She laughed.

"You're Sam."

"I'm out."

Joelle smiled, her little pink ears perked up, "Okay, Katy, is your person attractive?"

Katy gave her a look, "No, is yours?"

"Yes."

Katy looked over her 'Guess Who?' rack, then proceeded to flip down all the remaining pictures.

"I guess that game is over." Dex remarked, taking a sip of her drink.

Katy looked over to her friend's full plate of food and still filled drink, she gave a concerned look replying,

"Dex are you sick?"

"Nice Kate."

"You haven't touched your food."

"Not hungry."

"Then can I have it?" Joelle asked, Dex nodded and pushed her plate over to her.

"How can you eat so much and stay so skinny?" she asked, jealousy flashing briefly in her eyes.

Joelle swallowed down a big bite of her burger, "I need a lot of food to keep my blood sugar normal since I exercise frequently. Besides, mom says I have good metabolism."

"Lucky bitch." Dex muttered.

The girls laughed, but Katy's face turned solemn as Damon walked passed them with Kelly, not bothering to even look at her.

That hook-up didn't go well; they were caught by the gang before anything could really happen, and so Matt drove Kelly home.

Damon relaxed silently in the parlor, waiting for Stefan to finish his goodbyes with Elena and the rest. When he returned, he gave his older brother a look of disapproval.

"Don't look at me like that."

"Are you crazy?"

"Save the lecture. Look—"

Just then a vampire crashed through the window, attacking Stefan with a large piece of broken glass. He stabbed him in the gut, causing Stefan to drop to the ground in pain.

Damon got him away from his brother, choking the man as Stefan struggled to get the glass shard out.

Then Damon started to struggle a little, and head-butted the vampire. Then in an instant, another vampire, a woman this time, came through the window and attacked Stefan just as he removed the glass piece.

Suddenly, Katy came downstairs, holding the bayonet from Damon's civil war gun. She saw the vampires and immediately rushed over to Damon; she went behind the pinned mystery vampire, wrapped her arm around him to stab the bayonet in his chest.

Damon looked slightly stunned for a minute, then proceeded to strangle the vampire, who bit down on Katy's arm.

She screamed, trying to extract him, but even when she threw vervain on him he wouldn't let go. Damon growled, kneeing him hard in the stomach. When Katy managed to get him unclamped, Damon kneed him twice in the face then threw him across the room.

Katy ran to stand between the Salvatore brothers, holding her arm as all three stared at the vampire.

Said vampire looked from them to his, now dead, companion and back again. After a second he vanished through the broken window.

"Damn it." Damon breathed.

"Yeah. I remember them…" Stefan said, "From 1864. They were in the tomb."

Katy looked to Damon who replied, "Yeah. About that."

Damon walked over to Katy, who was sitting on the couch with a washcloth against her wound, and set a small shot glass of his blood in front of her.

She made a face at it, not moving to take it.

"Come on girlie, drink up." He coaxed.

She made another face and reluctantly picked it up and drank it, she swallowed, cringing, "Tangey. And thick."

Damon grabbed the washcloth, revealing perfectly healed skin, not even a sctratch.

"But look at that, all healed up."

She nodded, "Thanks… Damon. You knew I mean it, right? I really am sorry."

He got up rolling his eyes, "Katy…"

"I am." She insisted.

"Are you? Because you knew about this for a long time before you finally told me. _Big _mistake." He went over and picked up the fallen bayonet, "So is coming down here and confronting vampires without a stake!"

"I climbed in upstairs to get more clothes, I heard the commotion, I didn't have time to whittle fifty more!"

"Then you leave! You had not problem running away to Elena's."

"Because you won't talk to me!"

"Face your issues, kid. If you don't wanna deal with the consequences then tough!"

"I tried!" she pleaded, "I told you about Katherine."

"Thanks, that was real helpful _now_." He said sarcastically.

"And you would've just believed me?"

"Yes."

"And you would've been so much better than now?" she said pointedly, "I bet you would've tossed me back to the orphanage with glee!"

"Didn't you want to go back as soon as possible?"

"Well what if I don't wanna get kicked out?"

Damon scoffed, "What? You wanna stay? Why on earth would you want to?"

"Because I care Damon!" she paused to breath, "That's why I keep saving you, and why I feel so dang guilty. Saintly Christ! READ BETWEEN THE LINES!"

Both of them paused, breathing heavily. Katy slumped back onto the couch, nervous about his response, and inwardly scolding herself for being so open about her caring for Damon; it wouldn't make a difference, she kept telling herself.

"You should get some rest. Stefan and I'll handle the body."

She looked at him strangely for a second, "Okay… Damon." He gave her a look to continue, "Can I come home now?"

He paused, "I never asked you to leave."

With that she smiled and ran up the stairs to her room. She couldn't stop smiling after that, she had made progress; maybe this whole being honest with your emotions wasn't all bad.

_***Next Morning***_

"Katy get down here! You're in enough trouble at school already…" he waited, then called up the stairs, "I made coffee!"

Like clockwork, Katy hopped downstairs, "Thanks."

"Where are your books?" He asked.

"I left 'em at Elena's." she explained, pouring herself some coffee in the kitchen, "Can we stop by later and grab 'em?"

"Sure. Stefan!" he greeted when his brother entered.

"Hey guys." Stefan's eyes went to Katy, "Katy, how're you feeling?"

"Fine. I think the blood is almost out of my system." She took a sip of her over-sugared coffee, "So when are you guys planning on gankin' escapee?"

Damon shrugged, "We don't know yet."

"Hopefully soon." Stefan said, "We don't need another vampire to worry about."

Katy gave him a look, "Must I repeat the ant analogy?"

"She's right. We've got to take out everyone Pearl's got harbored in that house."

"Damon, not all of them could be like the two from last night, especially if we haven't had trouble till now."

"Yeah, I bet not all of them are blood-loving vampires-Oh. Wait…" she drawled.

"Even if we decided to try and a wipe them out, we're probably outnumbered."

"Yeah, and that's gonna be fun to deal with when they all come after you unexpectedly at the same time. Just remember that when you're running with one leg."

Damon smirked at the unamused Stefan, "Two against one Stef." He turned to Katy, "Come on you have school."

And with that Damon and Katy left to drop her off at school. He returned afterwards and had a drink in the parlor while he called Tobey Marshell again.

"Hey sorry, need to reschedule for tomorrow afternoon… Thank you, see you then." He hung up and took a sip of whiskey.

Stefan entered once he hung up, "Who are you calling?"

"No one who concerns you." He sneered, "What are you doing out of school?"

"Elena gave me this." He replied, dropping a bag on the floor, "Katy left some stuff over there, she wanted me to get it back to her."

"That's nice."

"Mhm. She said she didn't want to risk you coming over for them yourself."

"Hm. Not so nice." He said sarcastically as he refilled his glass.

"You turned her mother."

"We live and we learn." He said, taking a sip, "She'll have to get over that sooner or later.'

Just then his phone rang, he picked it up and answered, "Yes?... What did she do?"

_***Katy's POV***_

I sat in the Principal's office, waiting for Damon to show up, when he finally did I sighed with relief.

"Mr. Salvtore." Winthrop smiled, twirling a stray hair from her bun, then went back to professional mode, "Please, sit."

He obliged, sitting next to me, "Anyone wanna tell me what happened?"

"I was perfectly complimentary, all I said was, 'Nice rack'."

Damon raised an eyebrow, turning back to Principal Winthrop, clearly very confused.

"I called you down here to discuss Katherine's behavior during her History class." She said, eyes narrowed, "Her comment today, among others, are just one instance in which she has displayed complete disrespect for our teachers."

He turned to me and asked, "Isn't your History teacher a man?"

I nodded cheerfully as Winthrop cleared her throat, "Regardless, your comment was out of line."

"Oh, you're just mad 'cause he's competition."

She narrowed her eyes again, "Mr. O'Connor has been given permission to come in costume for his class, I saw it myself and it is perfectly appropriate-"

"He didn't bother to shave his beard!" I pointed out.

Damon let out a low chuckle, then stopped as Winthrop started lecturing us about… Well, something, I was only half-listening after he gave me a high-five under the desk.


	20. Truthful Gifts

Chapter 19  
>Truthful Gifts<p>

In the end, I was asked to leave early for the second time in two days. I also got a serious warning against further disruptive behavior-or as 'serious' as can be expected from a woman spending half her attention lecturing and the other half subtly adjusting her button down shirt in hopes of special attention from the child's guardian.

Said attention, was barely received.

Damon and I laughed on the drive home; he found it hilarious that a History teacher was so determined to make an impression upon young minds that he willingly dressed up as Princess Olga of Russia.

I really have no problem with him-or anyone else for that matter- dressing up in drag for any reason, but you should always _commit _to it! Beards will grow back, and a little cold cream will take off make-up.

However, despite anyone's view of men wearing pantyhose, there was the actual issue of my getting in trouble.

"So you're new extracurricular activity is_ detention_?" He asked sarcastically.

"I know." I shrugged, only caring vaguely, "But I can't help it! It makes me feel like a badass when I do whatever comes to mind."

He gave me an unimpressed/disapproving look.

"I like saying what I think! I can't always restrain myself, and sometimes it just comes out-"

I stopped, realizing too late that practically bragging about my _inability _to retain information, considering what we literally _just _started to heal from. We may have been on better terms again, but Damon had _definitely _not forgotten, nor probably had really forgiven.

Definitely not the best idea… Should probably staple that to a T-shirt to remind myself.

We sat awkwardly in the car for a while, neither of us knowing-no scratch that, we knew, we probably just didn't want to say it right then, but Damon finally bucked up and spoke.

"Katy," He said, his serious tone making me nervous, "twice you've lied to me, and you've…" He paused to consider, "Made something of a spectacle of your guilt. But this will _not _become a habit."

He stared at me intently for a minute, warning me not to interrupt.

"If you really feel guilty, and want my forgiveness as much as you claim; tell me now if there is anything else you haven't told me. I let you off easily for the Grimoire, I know you were just trying to protect Stefan and Elena, fine. But if there is something else you've hidden from me, and you won't come forth with it now, you don't want to know how _unforgiving _I can be."

We hit a red light just then, and he turned to fully look me in the eye, his expression almost terrifying.

"Now," He said, "Is there anything you've not told me yet?"

I couldn't just say no, I knew that, I needed to say something that left no doubt in his mind. I needed something that made him believe I would tell the truth from here on out.

I thought for a moment, there wasn't anything serious that came to mind which I'd hidden. Then one thing came to mind, it wasn't something that I'd purposely hidden, nor something that would affect him I'd thought.

But I hoped it would be good enough for my purpose now.

"Lexi told me that my parents' killer was named Klaus. According to her sources, he's a powerful vampire that doesn't come into plain view often-prefers secrecy apparently. She said he killed them because they defied orders."

"What orders?"

I shrugged, "She didn't know." I looked him in the eyes, "But a part of me wants to track him down, and kill him. And I want to pursue that."

He looked back to the road, "I don't blame you."

We drove up to the stores soon after, not saying anything until we got into a parking space.

"I'm gonna go get some boards for the broken window, stay here." He told me, then left as soon as I nodded in response.

I waited for a while, writing in a notebook I got myself to pass the time. In a bit, I heard the trunk opening and closing and then Damon coming back into the car with a dark-shaded bag in his hand.

"Shut your eyes Girlie." I gave him a look, which made him roll his eyes, "Just do it."

I sighed and shut my eyes, soon after hearing a small 'click' and then felt something heavy placed in my lap, it took all my self-control not to open my eyes.

"Now you can open them."

When I did, my jaw slacked and my mouth hung slightly ajar, I was not expecting this!

In my lap sat a knife/dagger maintenance set, appearing to include sharpening stones, polish, and rust removal formula (or whatever you call it).

I turned to see Damon holding a small blue cupcake with one lit birthday candle stuck in; he looked fairly passive, and albeit, like he wanted to get this over with as soon as he could.

"It's for being honest. Just blow out the damn candle."

I smiled slightly and blew out the candle, then practically ripped the cupcake out of his hand and taking a big bite.

I swallowed, "Thank you Damon."

"You've got icing on your nose girlie."

I rolled my eyes and continued to eat my belated-birthday cupcake as we drove home.

I'm really starting to think there is something to this whole making friends business.


	21. Motives

Chapter 20

Motives

_***Third Person's POV***_

"I say we go to Pearl's, bust down the door, and annihilate the idiot that attacked us last night." Damon said as he finished boarding up the broken windows.

Even as the hard rain poured, and the roads sank beneath almost 3 inches of water, he was no less determined than he was last night to go after the vampire from before.

Stefan, on the other hand, was less enthusiastic for an attack so soon given the circumstances.

"Yeah. And then what?" He said sarcastically, "We turn to the rest of that house of vampires and say, 'Oops. Sorry'?"

"I can't believe you made a deal with her." Elena said to Damon, almost scolding.

She had shown up around a half hour after Damon and Katy, the latter of whom had reluctantly taken a hint to leave the three of them to discuss the matter.

"It was more like a helpful exchange of information. And it's not like I had a choice. She''s…" He paused dramatically, "Sorry. Besides, she's gonna help me get Katherine back."

Elena scoffed lightly, "Of course she is. Damon gets what he wants, as usual." then said more pointedly, "No matter who he hurts in the process."

"You don't have to be snarky about it."

"I woke up this morning to learn that all the vampires have been released from the tomb. I've _earned_ snarky."

"How long are you going to blame me for turning your birth mother into a vampire?"

"I'm not blaming you, Damon." She said, though her voice was accusing, "I've accepted the fact that you're a self-serving psychopath with no redeeming qualities."

"Ouch." Damon replied robotically.

Before this became something violent-or just in the very least unnecessarily wrathful, Stefan decided to try and change the subject.

"This isn't being very productive." He reminded them, "We're gonna figure out a way to deal with Pearl and the vampires. Yeah? Hmm."

Damon did not respond and only left his seat, heading straight for the door, leaving the two of them behind.

* * *

><p>After a short chat with Stefan, Elena wandered upstairs and knocked lightly on Katy's bedroom door.<p>

"Katy? Can I come in?"

"At your own risk."

Confused, Elena entered, only to become increasingly baffled by the sight before her which consisted of several knives and daggers neatly surrounding Katy on her bed as she appeared to be sharpening a switchblade.

Katy looked up as Elena gasped quietly, and almost laughed at her expression as she replied,

"Damon got me a belated birthday present." She nodded to the kit in her lap, "I feel like I _should_ be worried on how much I enjoy sharpening and maintaining instruments of torture-_but _I don't care." She shrugged.

The two girls laughed at the joke, "Plus," Katy held up a small vial of vervain, "I've vampire-proofed most of these."

Elena nodded in approval, "Good work." She looked back up at Katy with concern, "I heard you got hurt last night, are you okay?"

"Aside from the unpleasant aftertaste of vampire blood I'm fine." She said not even bothering to look up from polishing.

"Didn't your mother have a rule against vampire blood?"

"Yes, but considering how many of her rules I've broken-just on a supernatural basis, I figure I may as well adopt the 'Devil-May-Care' attitude and go for broke." She shrugged.

"Was it that bad?" Elena asked, now becoming more worried by the second.

"No, not really." She assured, "It _was_ Damon's idea, however, I really didn't want to explain a bite mark at school."

Elena nodded, more to herself then Katy, then asked hesitantly, "How are you two anyway?"

"Better, I hope." She nodded, trying to keep herself from smiling.

The older of the two smiled at her attempts to hide enthusiasm, but it soon faded as she decided to tell her about Damon's deal.

"Katy." She waited briefly to get the girl's attention, "You know he made a deal with Pearl, right? To get Katherine back?"

Katy's face fell, and she paused before responding, "Yeah, I know."

"And you're okay with that?"

"I'm leaving in three months Elena." She sighed, "Even if I wasn't, I've known all along he wants Katherine back; More than anything."

"But that doesn't make it okay! He can't just leave you like that, aren't you mad at him?!"

"Not as much as you." She mumbled.

"What's that-"

"Elena come on." She said, "You blame him for your mother's turning."

"I don't _blame _him Katy." She replied, "I'm upset about how uncaring he is, how he's always been."

"Well, he can't be that bad or else he wouldn't have turned her."

That caused Elena to pause in slight shock, and then asked, "What?"

Katy put the switchblade and maintenance kit aside, then explained,

"Think about it; she comes along, going all vampire fan girl, ready and willing to do anything to become one herself. She goes to Damon, who traditionally compels or just kills anyone who knows his secret. And yet he turns her, with apparently no clause since he has no idea where she is-nor cares, when he really didn't have to."

She was only answered by silence, so Katy continued,

"Look Elena, even if he _did _know she had a kid at some point, or a husband with no idea of her wishes, that's _exactly _what this _is; Her _wish, _her _choices, and ultimately her consequences. You can't be mad at him for that."

"It's not just that he turned her Katy; it's how he treated Alaric, and how he's treating you now."

Before Katy could respond, the cell phone in her pocket -Damon's- went off. She looked at the text and smiled happily as she responded.

"Who's that?"

"Nate." Katy replied, her cheeks starting to blush.

"Nate again, huh? How often are you two talking?" She asked, appearing to have briefly forgotten the earlier subject.

"Almost every day, briefly but still, I like talking to him."

"Who texts who?"

"I do."

"Ooh Katy I'd hold off on that." She warned.

"Why?"

"Because you're making it easy for him." She said, "If you're always the one making contact first he'll think he just has you at his beck and call."

The cell rang again; Katy looked at the text and her face began to look flushed, and she replied in a disappointed voice, "Well, doesn't matter. When I asked about his weekend he responded, 'I baked cookies with my girlfriend'."

* * *

><p>About an hour after Elena left, Damon returned, somewhat drenched from the storm outside. He came in without a sound, almost walking passed Stefan in the hallway.<p>

"Where've you been?"

"Why do you ask?" Damon sneered, starting to walk up the stairs.

"Cheryl from Marshall Family & Property Law called." Damon stopped in his tracks, and so Stefan was able to continue, "Wanted to know if she should reschedule an appointment you made since you missed the last one."

The older brother turned around, a somewhat sarcastic look on his face, but he said nothing.

"Planning on getting rid of Katy so soon?"

"Weren't you _just _begging me to kick her out a while ago?"

"In so many words, but I don't think that's your plan."

"How do you mean?" Damon sneered again.

Stefan no longer felt the need for subtly in this conversation and laid out his concern,

"Does this have anything to do with getting Katherine back?"

Damon rolled his eyes, "Now _how _would I do that?"

"I don't know." He shrugged, "That's what I'm trying to figure out."

The two of them stared each other down, Stefan waiting patiently for a response. After a minute, his brother smirked and replied, "One week."

"What?" He asked, slightly stunned by the simple response.

"One week." The he shrugged, sitting down on the couch, "Maybe two, tops."

"For what?"

"For the adoption papers to arrive. Normally it would take six months to a year-but, a little compulsion here and there, skinny-dipping into the savings account and…" He smirked again, clapping his hands together briefly, "Welcome home Baby Girl Salvatore.

If someone described Stefan's expression as 'shocked', they would be making the understatement of the year.

When he returned to his senses, Stefan shook his head responding, "You've lost it. You've officially lost it! You're no better qualified to be a parent then-" he shook his head again, "No, there is no comparison."

"Ouch Stefan, now that really hurt."

"Damon this is serious, you can't just adopt a child. This isn't just a way to get over Katherine-"

"That's what you think this is about? Some girl breaks my heart and I think 'Raising children, there's a great relaxation method'." He remarked as he walked up to face his brother, practically spitting out slowly, "I'm not _stupid _Stefan."

"Fine then, if you're not stupid, and have all the answers, answer me this: Are you still looking for Katherine? How will she react when she finds out you adopted a kid?" He took a moment to pause, "You're a vampire Damon! Katy's a _human _girl, what are you going to do about that?"

Damon only stared at his brother without a word.

* * *

><p>Eventually, Damon dodged his way out of the conversation for a while, and went on repairing a few things that were damaged from last night.<p>

Later, while he wound up the grandfather clock, Damon saw Stefan heading out towards the door.

"Hunting party?"

"That guy did a number on me last night when he stabbed me." Stefan explained, "I gotta get my strength back up."

"I've got 2 liters of soccer mom in the fridge." He was only answered with a look, "No?"

"We'll talk when I get back?"

"Alright." he agreed nonchalantly, and then called after him, "Give my regards to the squirrels."

As soon as Stefan left, Damon went to the bottom of the stairs and called Katy down, who come down with his cell in hand.

"Up for a chat?"

She stopped and gave a look of concern, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just sit down, it's important."

She nodded, still nervous, but she sat down anyway. And when she did, Damon told her everything.

* * *

><p>Once he told her, Katy looked positively dumbstruck; Damon could tell she didn't believe what he was saying, so it came as no surprise when she asked if she heard right and if he meant it.<p>

He nodded, "I know it's important to you; you want a say in where you go. So whatever you choose, if you want to stay with me or go, I'll accept it."

She nodded quickly, still trying to digest this information, "Would I have to call you Dad?"

Given slightly different circumstances, he might've laughed, but Damon suppressed the urge and replied no.

"Can I keep my own last name?"

"If you want."

"Do I have to turn?"

Damon paused, "You don't have to. But when you're older, and you've _really _thought about it, I won't object."

Katy gave a small smile, but it faded back to shock and confusion.

"So are you saying you want to?"

"I don't know." She breathed, then said quickly, "I mean-I want to think about it Damon-This is all really weird-and new-and I want to think hard about it for a few days… Maybe, more."

She looked reluctant to hear his answer, but he replied,

"That's fair. Okay, you take your time, it's your choice."

She smiled lightly, "Thank you." Katy got up and almost went in for a hug, but instead decided to give him a playful buddy-slap, "Really, thank you."

She hopped upstairs shortly after to her room, leaving Damon phone downstairs. He started to try and call Stefan to check in, but he got no answer.

He tried a dozen more times over the next hour, but nothing came of it, except the realization that trouble had come like he'd thought.

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry about last week I just had no energy. BUT EVERYONE IT'S THE 20****TH**** CHAPTER! AND I KNOW I SAID I'LL GIVE A PREVIEW AND SPOILERS FOR NEXT SEASON IF I GET 100 REVIEWS BEFORE THE SEASON FINALE CHAPTER, BUT SINCE IT'S NOW THE 20****TH**** I'LL GIVE YOU JUST A SMALL TID BIT FOR SEASON 3! HERE YOU GO!**

**Rebekah has been talking about Stefan and Katy is there right now listening somewhat annoyed.**

**Rebekah-I can't believe he doesn't love me.**

**Katy-Girlfriend he NEVER loved you! Just be thankful nothing's changed!**

**END SCENE**

**HOPE YOU ENJOYED THAT!**


	22. Rescue

**A/N: Thanks guys! I'm so glad you're all liking this story! This one is not gonna be great, quite frankly it's mostly filler, but hopefully the next one will be better.**

**Please review they help me write!**

**And **BrandelynKate **you'll all see Damon try to take on a father role, and along with an unknowing Elena taking on a motherly role. But you'll see how their relationship progresses in the next few chapters-even in the whole story. Thanks for your input! I encourage all my readers to do the same!**

Chapter 21  
>Rescue<p>

***Third Person POV***

"Pearl! Open this door I swear to God, I'll bust through and rip your head off!"

He shouted as he slammed his fist against the farmhouse door. Damon had first gone to Elena's to look for Stefan and when it was revealed he wasn't there, he knew exactly where to go. Frederick, the vampire from last, slowly opened the door.

"Pearl's not home." He looked briefly outside. "Hmm, beautiful weather. Not a ray of sun in the sky."

"Where's my brother?"

"Billy?"

In the next second, two other vampires came in, each gripping the arm of a bleeding Stefan.

"You're dead!" Damon hissed as he charged forward but an invisible barrier blocked his entrance to the house prompting Frederick to gloat.

"Whoa! I'm sorry, you haven't been invited in." He paused, his lips almost twitching into a smile then he called, "Miss Gibbons?"

Damon looked on in slight confusion as a middle-aged woman with short dark curls and bite-marks all over her sickly pale skin came in.

"Yes, Frederick honey?" She asked her voice dazed.

"Never let this bad man in."

Miss Gibbons turned to look at Damon, smiling as if all of this was normal. "I'll never let him in."

His eyes, intense and rage-filled, followed the woman as she exited but was brought back by his brother's pain-filled groan.

"145 years left starving in a tomb, thanks to Katherine's infatuation with you and your brother. First few weeks; every single nerve in your body screams with fire, the kind of pain that can drive a person mad. Well, I thought your brother might want to get a taste of that before I killed him. Billy?" The one named Billy took out a stake and stabbed Stefan in the stomach, causing him to scream out even louder than before. "You have a nice day," Frederick said as he closed the door.

* * *

><p>Damon returned to the car and told Elena and Katy what had happened. He was just as determined as they were to save Stefan, but what with the circumstances, he had run out of ideas about what to do. Elena on the other hand, had suggested that they go see Alaric.<p>

"And what are the odds this guy will actually want to help us?" Katy asked.

"Zero. But he will." Damon said.

"Why's that?"

"Because, I have faith."

"Seriously, Damon."

"No! I'm being serious." He paused. "He _is _the kind of guy who likes his limbs intact, right?"

"How original," Elena scowled. "Damon decides to threaten people in order to get his way. As usual."

"When are you going to stop talking about me in the third-person?"

"Like you care."

"Elena, if we're going to work together to get Stefan back, we need to keep a common ground." He stressed, no longer joking. "Or else we can't do this."

Elena didn't want to admit it but it was true. They needed to work together or else it was just going to get worse. So, she nodded and said, "Okay."

Silence broke over the car, something Katy was thankful for, considering how much they had been bickering earlier, that is, until they unexpectedly stopped at the boarding house.

"Why are we stopping here?"

"Out Girlie."

"No! No way! You are not leaving me behind." She argued.

"Katy, I have enough trouble with Elena putting herself in danger, I don't need to worry about two at a time."

"Are you kidding me? I know what I'm dealing with! I grew up with these things! I can take care –"

"Katy, go inside right now." Elena ordered.

"But –"

"Now!" Damon and Elena said at the same time.

Katy looked as if she did not believe what she was seeing and said, "My God. Which one were you dating again?" Directing her question at Elena, who blushed slightly.

"Are you gonna be a pain in the ass or will you get in the damn house?" He said.

"You're not my parent yet!" She held up her hands quickly when Damon started to remove his seatbelt, "Okay fine! I'm out!"

Katy got out of the car quickly as she angrily muttered, "You can't decide how to save Stefan's life but _this _you agree on!" and the other two drove off instantly when she got inside.

* * *

><p>"What was that about?" Elena asked on the way over to the school, "Katy said you weren't her parent 'yet'?"<p>

"You really wanna talk about this now?"

"Why not?"

"How 'bout your boyfriend is being tortured by killer vampires?" He said sarcastically, "Is that good enough for ya?"

"Stop dodging and just tell me."

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because I care about her Damon." She said, "And despite everything, you care too. Now tell me, please."

He looked away from her and back to the road, not saying a word. She sighed with frustration when she took his silence for refusal.

"If you're infinitely wise brain can't tell by now, I offered to adopt Katy."

Elena's eyes widened, while it was obvious from what she'd heard, she couldn't believe it was actually true, "Are you serious? You want to adopt a child?! Damon are you even aware of what it takes to raise a child? Especially a kid as traumatized as Katy?"

"I think Katy might have a few select words about that."

"Can you give her a good life? Will you be there for her? Will you make her go to school? Will you make sure she's working?" she shook her head slightly, "Can you love her? Love her like she's your daughter, and put her before anything you want, and be completely selfless with her?"

"And what makes you think I can't do any of that?" He said, starting to get defensive, "So far in that high-horsed list of yours did you ask how she actually feels about adoption in general?"

"What about how you feel?" Elena countered, "Are you doing this because you love her? Or is she just gonna be here till you get Katherine back?"

Before she could say anything, Damon shrieked the car to a stop in the middle of the road, throwing them both forward. And he replied, practically growling,

"You really think I'd do that to her? That I would just leave if it suited me? Why do you think I left her at the house? I am _protecting _her Elena! Just like I am trying to protect you, and if I didn't need you to soften up Alaric to help me, you'd be with her! As for being a good parent, I'll admit, even Katy is well aware I was lackluster in the beginning. But I've managed to give her something all along that she clearly didn't get from twelve years with her biological parents!"

"And what's that?!"

His icy glare softened a bit, "Honesty, absolutely no bullshit. And I can give that to her _while _I protect her."

That was the end of that conversation. While Elena was still not convinced he'd be a good father, she had no retort. And at the moment they needed to get Stefan out, once they did that they could discuss this later.

* * *

><p>Much to Elena's distaste, Ric and Damon stuck her in the car while they went off to save Stefan. After a few words were exchanged, Elena was now convinced that while being a 'good' father was off the table, a strict and condescending one was.<p>

So all she did for a while was sit in the car, watching the rain pour, and clutching the vervain dart in her hand nervously. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and headed straight for the house, breaking into an outside entrance to the basement.

But inside she saw a vampire guarding the door, and when she peeked out from her hiding place he caught sight of her, beginning to come forward. Before he could though, Damon came out of nowhere, stabbing said vampire in the neck with a stake.

He looked her in the eye and asked, "Are you insane?"

Damon may not have been happy with Elena's entrance into the situation, but he sure wouldn't like what would come a minute later.

They got into the room where Stefan was suspended from the ceiling with vervain-soaked rope, shirtless and clearly open wounds. There was also another vampire tied to a chair and held down with stakes in his legs.

"Elena…" Stefan said weakly, "You shouldn't be here…"

"She was supposed to stay in the car." Damon glared, starting towards the other vampire.

"No. No. No." He whispered, "Not him."

"Whatever. Let's get you down."

Suddenly with a crash, Katy came through a small window in the basement that was just barely big enough for her to shimmy through.

"Katy!" Damon shouted.

"Delivery." She said, throwing down a bag of stakes and vervain.

He growled, grabbing the bag and her arm pushing her to Elena, "You are both insane! What part of 'stay' do you not understand?!"

"Not the time for a lecture Damon." Katy said, handing him a stake, "Just grow a pair and kill things!"

"Oh are you gonna get it when this is over." He said, going over to get Stefan down.

"There's vervain on the ropes." Stefan said.

"Elena, pull that."

When she got the ropes undone, Stefan fell to the ground with a grunt. Damon tried to speed things along knowing the other vampires were coming, but Stefan insisted on freeing the other vampire in the basement.

"Can you two get him to the car?"

"Yeah."

"What about you?" Katy asked, concerned.

"You rescue, I'll distract." Just as she was about to protest, he pushed her to Stefan and Elena, "Go."

* * *

><p>"Come on, it's right over here."<p>

The girls helped Stefan into the car, then got in themselves, only to find the ignition was ripped off. Elena looked scared and said, "Stefan…"

Just then Frederick crashed through the car window and ripped Stefan out, punching him over and over again.

"This is for Beth-Anne." Frederick hissed, stabbing him with a stake. Katy, having gotten out of the car first, leapt on his back trying to stake him. He threw her off and continued, "And this is for the tomb."

He took out the stake and stabbed him in the chest, just as Elena stabbed him with a vervain dart. He fell to the ground with Stefan, who was instantly held close by a crying Elena.

"Stefan…" She whispered, pulling the stake out, but he didn't respond. "Stefan?"

Katy looked on in shock, her own eyes starting to glaze over in fright.

"Katy get Damon!" the girl nodded, grabbing something from the car and ran off, "Stefan… No, Stefan."

* * *

><p>Back at the house, Damon and Alaric were killing most of the vampires inside. But neither could find Frederick, so they started outside, only to see more vampires waiting.<p>

"How many of those vervain darts do you have left?"

"One."

Damon sighed, "Not gonna be enough."

Suddenly they heard a shot blast inside, and ran in to see what it was. Katy was surrounded by four vampires, holding one of Alaric's stake guns. One vampire got shot in the shoulder, and since the pressure from the gun firing kept throwing her back she just wacked two of the vampires with it.

Then she threw it aside, took her vervain polished switchblade out and starting swiping at one vampire-who looked amused by her efforts and dodged the swipes. One vampire came up behind her, grabbed her shoulders and tried to bite her neck; Katy took her switchblade, stabbed him in the face, pulled it out while grabbing one of the hands around her shoulders and sliced across the wrist freeing her.

Damon took this time to stab the vampire she tried to confront with the vervain dart, while Alaric shot the others with the gun.

"Katy what the hell are you doing here?" Alaric asked.

Katy, out of breath and shaking from the adrenaline rush, gave him a look and managed to get out, "S-Saving your ass." She then turned to Damon, "Stefan…"

She couldn't get much further then that before having to take in a few more breaths, but Damon didn't need her to finish knowing what she was going to say. He only nodded and held her up since her shaking body didn't have the strength to.

"So, what you said to get me to do this, about my wife." Alaric said as they stared at the door, "It was a lie, wasn't it?"

"Yep."

"Stop." They heard Pearl's voice outside, "What's going on here?"

She came inside shortly after with Anna, both of them looking at the massacre around them. Pearl looked up at Katy and the guys, slightly horrified, asking, "What did you do?"

"Me?" Damon growled, "Your merry little band of vampires spent the day torturing my brother."

"Trust me." She said, "The parties responsible for this will be dealt with."

"Our little arrangement doesn't work unless you learn to control them."

"This wasn't supposed to happen."

"Well, it did." He said, starting to walk out with Alaric and Katy, "If I had a good side… Not a way to get on it."

* * *

><p>"You okay?" Damon asked Katy once they got home.<p>

"Yeah I guess-"

"Good." He said, pushing her onto the couch, "Next time I give you an order, you will accept it, no questions asked! I don't care if you've accepted my offer yet or ever will, you will do exactly as I say when I say!"

He turned to glare at her, "I wasn't dropping you off here for my health Katy! I am trying to protect you, and I can't do that if you throw yourself in danger!"

Before they could continue, Damon heard something in the next room, and started going in, "Stay there."

When he got inside he saw Stefan, covered in blood and surrounded by blood bags, one of which he had been drinking when Damon came in. He stopped to look at his brother, who only got a disturbed look on his face and stood there in silence.

Damon's expression turned stone-cold and he rushed back into the room where Katy was, pushing her forcefully outside, "Get in the car."

"What? Why-"

"No questions!" He ordered, opening the passengers' seat door, "Get. In. The Car. Now!"

She got in without another word, and he drove off-speeding mind you- to Elena's house, and just left her there once he saw she was inside, going back home.


	23. Control

**A/N: Happy Father's Day everyone! Hope you had a great one!**

**This chapter was originally longer but I ran out of time to tweak and get it all down, so it's about half as long now.**

**Only four more weeks of Season 1, and I want to thank you all for your reviews and support! I always look forward to reading them, you are some of the sweetest and most supportive people I'd had the pleasure of unofficially meeting lol**

**Remember, 100 reviews and the final chapter will include some minor spoilers and a preview for Katy Verse Season 2!**

**Love ya'lls! :D**

Chapter 22  
>Control<p>

_***1 Week Later***_

For the last week, everyone had fallen into an awkward routine; Damon spent his time usually drinking and taunting Stefan as always, Katy-still staying at the Gilberts- avoided Damon at all costs refusing to even talk to him, and Stefan tried continuous exercise to help curb his blood lust.

It worked for about a day, but slowly decreased in effectiveness; all that did though was make Stefan work out harder and longer.

One week after the fiasco, he was continuing his usual coping method as music blared in his room. Soon enough causing his brother to enter, swirling a tumbler of blood in his hand.

"Could you turn it up a little bit? It's not annoying _yet_."

"Sorry." He replied turning the stereo off, then busied himself with push ups.

"When are you going back to school?"

"Soon."

Damon rolled his eyes, "Oh come on, just drink already." He said, holding a glass of blood by Stefan's face, "Come on, this self-detox is not natural."

"Can you get that away from me please?"

"How long did it take you to wean yourself of it last time you indulged?"

No response.

"That's not good."

"I'll be fine; it just takes a little bit of time."

"I don't get it; you know, you don't have to kill to survive. That's what blood banks are for. I haven't killed a human in… God, way too long."

"Oh, I'm impressed."

"It's completely self-serving. I'm trying to get the town off the trail of vampires which is not very easy considering that there is an entire tomb of them running around."

"What are we planning on doing about that?" Stefan asked, finally taking a few breaths.

"We are not going to do much of anything if you don't have your strength. There's nothing wrong with partaking in a healthy diet of human blood from a blood bank. You're not actually killing anyone."

"I have my reasons."

"Well, what are those holier than thou reasons? You know, we never actually discussed this. You know, I'd-I'd _love _to hear this story."

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you? Watching me struggle?"

"Very much so." He smirked.

"I hate to break it to you Damon but… I actually have it under complete control."

"You do? Well, the, you should just carry on, making the rest of us vampires look bad."

He smirked again, backing out of the room, "Have a great day Stefan."

When he left, Stefan's eyes went to the glass of blood left on the desk, a hungry look briefly touching his face. He swallowed, desperate to remain still in his place. But he felt himself lean towards it.

"Oh, hey, almost forgot something." Damon said, returning for the glass, taking a sip, "Oops."

Once again he walked out smirking. When he got to the stairs he pulled out his cell phone, waiting through the incessant dial tones before he got an answer.

"Gilbert residence."

"Hey girlie." He smirked, then his expression dropped when the call suddenly ended, "Dammit."

* * *

><p>"Come on Jeremy, going to school! Walking out the door now!" Elena called upstairs to her brother, "Katy! You too!"<p>

"I'm right here." The girl said entering the room, she looked up the stairs and called out, "Steve! I can smell the hair gel from down here! Move!"

Jenna came over to them, smiling pleasantly, handing Elena her thermos, "Forgot this."

"Thank you."

"Hey Jenna, thanks again for letting me bunk here."

"Oh," She brushed it off happily, "Sure, sure no problem. Is Stefan feeling any better?"

"Yeah is he?" Elena asked.

"I haven't heard." She shrugged, opening the door to reveal a man.

"Elena!"

"Uncle John! Hi."

He nodded, looking behind her, "Jenna."

"John, you made it." She replied, disdainfully.

"I said I'll be here before noon."

"Oh what you say and what you do are typically two very different things."

Katy looked awkwardly at Elena, her expression asking for some context; Elena nodded her head in John's direction with an annoyed expression, to which Katy just nodded understandingly.

Jeremy came down the stairs right after, smiling at John, "Uncle John, what's up?"

"Hey!" He greeted before Jeremy walked out the door, "I had some business in town; I thought that a visit was in order."

"How long are you staying?"

"I don't know yet." He finally noticed Katy then, "And who might you be?"

"I _might _be a lot of people."

"Ok, well, I'm gonna go to school, I'll see you later." Elena said, both her and Katy practically skipping through the door to the car.

* * *

><p>"The coroner's office has officially ruled Vicki Donovan's death a drug overdose. Her family has been notified, the truth will stay in this room and we can put this behind us." Sheriff Forbes informed the council.<p>

"Thank you Sheriff." Mayor Lockwood said, "And on to a more pressing issue, John Gilbert has asked to say a few words. Welcome back John, it's good to see you."

John stepped up to the plate, "Hello everyone, it's wonderful to see you, I wish it were under better circumstances. As a founding family member I find it's my duty to report some very distressing news."

"He's a Gilbert?" Damon whispered to the Sheriff.

"Elena's uncle. His name is John but I call him Jackass."

"A hospital blood bank in the neighboring county of Amherst has reported several break ins over the past two weeks. 7 hunters, 4 campers and 2 states employees have been reported missing as well. All of this within a 75 mile radius of Mystic Falls."

"Okay okay, no need to get alarmed right at this moment."

"Meaning he doesn't want to cancel the Founder's Day kickoff party." Sheriff whispered.

"You think all of your problems are over but I'm here to tell you, nothing's been solved."

Damon looked at John suspiciously, not liking where he was going with this. But he didn't have much time with his thoughts before Sheriff Forbes pulled him out.

"Damon, can we talk?"

"Sure, what's up?"

She sighed before continuing, "My contact, the one that got Katy here; she's getting questioned by social services."

"What does that mean?"

"It means we may have to cut her time here." She admitted.

"But you were promised _four _months, it's been almost 2 and a half!"

"I know, but you don't understand; the circumstances in which she was brought here are illegal! Not to mention initiated by cops!"

Damon took a second to breath, "How much time do we have?"

"If we're lucky, maybe a week or two."

* * *

><p>At school, Katy, Dex, and Joelle sat outside trying to study-though not succeeding, as Joelle had taught them how to play with a dreidel which was incredibly addicting.<p>

"Whoo!" Joelle smiled, "Gimmel! I win!"

Katy let out a small grunt of disappointment, but then smiled, "I still can't believe you're Jewish."

"Her being named Joelle Silvermen didn't tip you off?" Dex remarked, taking another puff of her cigarette and putting in one token.

"It's just that she looks Irish, they're usually Catholic or Episcopalian or something."

"Well what are you?" Joelle asked, spinning the top, which landed on 'nun'.

"I'm a Religious Mutt. My parents were Catholic, I was baptized and given communion in an Episcopalian Church, but we used to generally attend Baptist Sermons every Sunday and my mom said I'm Christian."

"I forget, what's the difference between those religions again?"

"There is absolutely no difference!" Katy groaned.

"Not true." Dex said, collecting her newly won tokens, "Episcopalians allow priests to be women and get married, Catholics and Christians disagree about who should be head of the Church-The Pope or the Bishop, and I'm not sure but Baptists have a thing about alcohol."

"Okay so there are political differences, religiously there are none." Katy sighed, "What are you anyway Dex?"

"Atheist, but when Dad and Mema are around I'm Catholic." She said lighting a new cigarette, and then she turned to Katy with her pack, "You want one?"

"No I'm good."

Dex turned to Joelle, "Jock princess, what about you?"

"No thank you." She whispered nervously.

Katy watched as she took another puff and reluctantly said, "Dex, you're not using right now-"

"No, it's cigarette." She assured, "I save the real stuff for home now."

"Okay." She said, "Look, I hate to sound preachy, but-"

"If you try the whole 'I care about you and what you do to your body' thing, I'm outta here bitch." She snapped.

Katy held her hands up in surrender, "Hey, don't get violent, I'm just worried."

"Well, don't be." She said, aggravated as she took another puff.

"Okay!" Joelle said, trying to diffuse the tension, "We really should study now, I have a History test coming up and I can't fail this one."

"Alright, come on." Katy said taking the textbook, "Let's start with the easy ones first. What's the significance of July 4th?"

Joelle gave an unsure look and said slowly, "The day we discovered America?"

Dex gave her a look, "Joelle do me a favor and never reproduce."

"Dammit!" Katy said when her mother's ring accidentally hit the floor.

"What's this?" Dex asked, picking it up.

"My mom's ring." She explained, "I really need to find a chain for it, I wear it on my thumb."

"Pretty." She remarked, then caught a whiff of the aroma, "Smells weird, what's in it?"

"An herb mom liked, vervain."

"What?" Dex said with a look of panic on her face.

"Vervain, something wrong?"

"Yeah, I'm allergic-" she rushed, shoving the ring in Katy's hand and running off to the bathroom.

"Sorry!" Katy called after her, and then saw Joelle look at her with a sympathetic look.

"I'm worried about her too." She admitted.

"Why does she even take it? I know it's not my business, and I can't judge but I just don't get it."

"Bianca told me she uses it to lose weight."

"The Tales of Bianca the Bard." Katy rolled her eyes, "Have you _seen _Dex? She's a twig."

"Now." Joelle nodded, "I knew her a little back in 4th and 5th, she was-um… A big girl."

Katy gave an awkward nod and pressed her to focus on homework instead.

* * *

><p>"I've no interest in the Founder's Day kickoff party." Jeremy remarked during dinner.<p>

"Sure you do its tradition."

"It will be our role to break the tradition." Jenna told John.

"The Gilberts have been a part of this town for a hundred and fifty years." He preached, "We're one of the founding families and with that distinction comes certain obligations including going to the party. One day, when you can appreciate the significance, I'll tell you all about your heritage."

"Hmm, the Gilbert family legacy." Jenna mused, "I forgot how sacred it was. I'm not a Gilbert so I was never cool enough to hear it."

"Why does she hate you?" Jeremy asked.

"We used to sleep together."

Jenna suddenly threw something at John's head, Jeremy, though a bit shocked, had to hold back laughter at his aunt's actions.

"I'm standing right here." Jenna scolded.

"What? We're all adults here."

She turned her head to Katy, who was not holding back her snorts of laughter, and gave John a look. Katy looked up at them all and gave them a look, "I take offense to that."

Jeremy and Jenna only shook their heads slightly, while John asked her, "So Katy, what's your story?"

"She's Damon's kid." Jenna answered nonchalantly.

"Damon Salvatore?" He questioned, "He's married?"

"No, and he's not my dad."

"What is he then?"

"None of your business." She remarked, grabbing her cup of coffee and walking into the living room in a huff, soon followed by Jeremy.

"Why does he have a kid?"

"Nice John." Jenna sneered.

"She's adopted?"

"It's an option now."

"How did she get here then?"

"I don't know John, clearly its private."

"And you're not suspicious at all?"

Jenna took a moment, but said hesitantly, "No…"

* * *

><p>In the living room, Katy let out a small frustrated groan sipping her coffee as Jeremy entered and sat next to her on the couch.<p>

"Hey, Katy, sorry about them." He said, "It must be a touchy subject right now I imagine."

"Yeah, your uncle… Real peach."

He laughed slightly, "Well, you don't have to be rude."

"I'm rude to everybody, what douchy pedestal sets him apart?"

"Well you're not rude to me or Jenna."

She crossed her arms giving him a look, "Jenna's putting a temporary roof over my head." Her eyes narrowed slightly, "As for you dilweed, that can change if you like."

"Hey! I'm just saying!" He put his hands up in fake surrender, "You still thinking about the adoption?"

"Yup."

"Well, look, I've never been in that position, but I have lost my parents-"

"Elena's already given me the passive/aggressive 'live your life' speech. I get it, I've gotta get over it." She sighed, annoyed.

"No, that's not what I was gonna say." He looked at her to see her interest seemed slightly peaked, he went on, "I was gonna say, you've taken it a lot better than I did."

"What did you do?"

"Drugs, drinking, the works." Jeremy shrugged, "Anything that got my mind off it."

Katy nodded, thinking briefly of Dex, "When did you stop?"

"Not long ago. But, it has gotten better since I stopped 'being under the influence'." He said with the fingers, "What pissed me off, before, was that everyone tells you it's okay to grieve, but they have a squeaky clean idea of grief."

"Ice cream, Titanic, and sweats." She nodded.

"Ice cream is good for the munchies." He laughed, "But, when you go for my approach, they'll feel bad for awhile, and then decide you're just a bad kid and judge. Apparently there's an expiration date to grief."

"Oh yes, I'm familiar." She said sarcastically.

"Yeah but, I've realized, it's all bullshit." He said, "How, when, etc. People just don't get that, there is never a day in your life, which you don't want to break down. It's not that douche loner that wallows then says 'they're in a better place'. It's a lifetime struggle, something we do need to learn to fight, but it doesn't go away…"

Katy sat in silence for a minute, mulling over his words.

"Now, I can't imagine being you, having all that and then some guy comes along and wants a parental role. I don't know how I'd take that." He told her, "Look, I'm not gonna tell you what to do about the adoption, but don't think accepting will make you 'get over it'."

"Thanks." She gave a half smile, "You old softie."

"I feel like we're in a commercial." He smiled.

"Hmm…" She looked at her cup of coffee, then looked in front of her smiling widely, "This message was brought to you by Folgers; giving _you _the energy to deal with assholes, everyday."

Jer laughed and took the cup from her, "Folgers, because no family is functional."

Again they smiled at no one in front of them and laughed, "We would be the hammiest commercial actors ever!"

"Not true. Have you seen the crazy Progressive bitch? Screw the boogeyman THAT'S the scary face I don't wanna find under my bed!" she exclaimed, then realized, "Dammit! I'm outta clothes here. Do me a favor and cover for me?"

Jer nodded, fist-bumping her before she snuck out to the Boarding House.

* * *

><p>She hopped up on the porch towards the door, stopping only to take in the mail. Katy did this often enough that she felt bad not to take it in since she wouldn't even say hi.<p>

But in the mail she saw a package with a familiar label on the top. Curiosity winning out, she opened it to reveal adoption papers inside, all neatly stapled together.

She sighed and groaned, knowing she couldn't hide for long anymore.

**A/N: I expect my check in the mail this week Folgers Company lol jk**


	24. Control Part 2

**A/N: Hey guys! Thank you all for the great reviews! I'm sorry I haven't been updating but I've been relocated and have not had internet until now. So thank you all for your patience and support and please keep enjoying these chapters! :)**

**And on a different note, next week I shall be publishing two new stories!**

**If you are a Supernatural fan, check out "Gabriel's Trix" featuring everyone's favorite Angel in a dramedy oneshot!**

**And/or if you are a Newsies fan, check out the first chapter of "Someone To Fall Back On" the story of a girl newsie who steals a customer from the famous Jack Kelly.**

**Thank you for your attention, please keep reading, and check out the new stories next week :)**

Chapter 23  
>Control Part 2<p>

The next day, Elena called Damon, though reluctantly. He immediately turned up that morning.

"Oh good you're here." She sighed.

"You ask I come. I'm easy like that." He flirted, but was given a look by Elena as she gestured to Jeremy in the kitchen. When he was silent, she started upstairs, but he just stood in place and said loudly, "No, Elena! I will not go to your bedroom with you-"

Jeremy only rolled his eyes as his sister pulled Damon up the stairs.

Meanwhile, Damon was in Elena's room, happily invading her personal space as she tried to talk about Stefan.

"He's not himself, Damon."

"Well, maybe his problem is that he has spent too long not being himself."

She groaned slightly as she put back a bra he'd been examining, "Please don't make me sorry for asking you."

"It is what it is Elena." He said, taking a small picture from her mirror, "The Stefan you know was 'good behavior Stefan', 'reign it in Stefan', 'fight against his nature into an annoyingly excessive level Stefan' but if you think there isn't another part to this then you have not been paying attention."

She leaned towards him, simultaneously taking back the photo, "He's not you, not even close."

"Well, he doesn't want to be me. That doesn't mean that deep down he's not." Damon smirked as he walked towards the door.

"If this is how you treat your brother, how do you expect to be a father?" she accused.

He turned around, slowly walking closer, "I wouldn't throw Katy an endless pity-party if that's what you mean." He stressed his last words, "I'd teach her control."

Damon waited for a response, but she didn't say anything, so he headed downstairs again. As he came down, he heard bustling in the kitchen, but when he looked he saw Jeremy still in his place. Then he noticed a half eaten bowl of cheerios across the table from him.

"See ya Jer."

"See ya."

"Oh hey, when Katy comes out from behind the counter, tell her to call me."

"Yup." He nodded as Damon left.

Once the door shut, Katy sheepishly came out and sat back in her place, not bothering to finish her food.

"You got all that?" He asked, smiling.

Katy just sat there, only glancing at him for a second before reverting her gaze back to the floor.

_***Katy's POV***_

While I did talk to Jeremy about the adoption sometimes, I always had an unscheduled rant fest with Elena everyday.

It got pretty real too, Elena would talk about family values and how Damon used to be a serial killer, to which I would respond with a few verses of "It's A Hard Knock Life" and end our meeting with "Tomorrow"

Never skimp on irony when talking about stressful or depressing topics, I say.

"I just don't know! I mean it's not like I have a real problem living with him already. So why should this be different?"

"Because this means you'd be here for the rest of your life, you'd have to set up new roots."

"Elena, my parents and I once moved to 5 places in one year, believe me I'm not unaccustomed to setting up new roots. I've been to Gettysburg, Chicago, Connecticut, as you know I've been to Georgia three times by now."

"Katy, why do _you _think it's an issue?"

I shrugged, "Maybe it's Damon? He's probably thinking something along the lines of 'I'm saving her ass anyway'?"

She laughed a little, "I think we can assume that's not it. Damon won't take on anything he doesn't have to."

"Well, how do you know that? What did he say to you when you found out?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" She countered.

I crossed my arms, giving her a look, "This from the woman tip-toeing around her brother?"

"That's different, Katy, the deed is done."

"I'm just saying." I replied, shrugging.

A contemplating expression grew on her face, and after a minute she walked off to knock on ol' Steve's door.

I groaned, "Crap, now I gotta take my own advice." I sighed, and sang as I walked out, "_The sun will come out! Tomorrow! Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow-_"

_***Third Person's POV***_

Soon it came time for the Founder's Day Kickoff Party; everyone in town was there, and then some. But in exchange for the epically boring music, anyone who could pass for 21 or older was drinking like they were at an Irish kegger.

It wasn't like they had much of a choice though; Mrs. Lockwood had somehow gotten it into her head that if she had the bartender water down the drinks, it might keep things proper.

Damon and Stefan soon arrived, the second being itchy as ever around the human party.

"Oh God!" He whispered, "I shouldn't be here."

"Come on, don't be a downer, it's a party for the founding families! That would be _us_. It would be rude to skip it."

"I really liked you a whole lot better when you hated everybody."

"Oh I still do. I just love that they love me." Damon smirked.

"Oh so _that's _why you wanted to adopt a child?" Stefan received only silence, "What happened to all that 'I'd never use Katy, Stefan!', 'I'm not that stupid Stefan!'? What you just changed your mind?"

"Always keep a receipt Stefan." He smiled sarcastically, "Katy and I both have interests to be served by the possibility of adoption. She can't take care of herself; she's reckless, angry, she knows this town's dirty little secrets."

"Sounds to me like she's yours already."

Damon smirked again, "Point is Stefan, Katy's not half bad I suppose. But if I adopt her; I get some _reliable _assistance, Good Samaritan award, and no questions about why she was here in the first place. She gets her security and privacy, practically raises herself anyway."

"I thought you just said she can't take care of herself." Again, no answer, "I'm just saying, there are holes in your story."

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm good, I'm fine."

"No cravings? No urges? Is that whiskey you've been drinking all day doing its job?" He taunted, "We are who we are Stefan. Nothing's gonna change that."

"Nothing will make you happier to just see me give up huh Damon?"

"Whatever, it's inevitable."

"Well, I'm gonna find Elena. Stefan said, walking off.

"Don't embarrass me young man!" Just then, Damon turned to see Katy in the crowd looking at him; but suddenly she just turned the other way and bolted.

"Well I've got my work cut out for me don't I?"

* * *

><p>After she saw Damon, Katy disappeared for a while, but Jeremy found her and managed to coax her out into the open. He told her about how Elena told him she was adopted.<p>

"So how are you taking it?" she asked.

"It's a little weird, hard to comprehend, but it's not bad." He admitted."

"You're bonded; you grew up together, that's probably why."

"yeah, when you got down to it, it doesn't really matter." He said, giving her a knowing smile.

Katy only narrowed her eyes at him.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Damon came up to Elena after Stefan wen to finally compel the DJ.<p>

"Have I entered an alternate universe where Stefan is fun?"

Elena shook her head slightly, smiling; she took another look at Stefan with a bottle in his hand and a strangely nonchalant smile on his face; her own smile soon fell in worry.

"Is he gonna be okay?"

"Eventually." Damon replied, "One way or another."

As he answered, Elena noticed his gaze soon turn over to where Jeremy and Katy were talking.

* * *

><p>"You know you're only gonna make it worse you know." Jeremy told Katy, "Ignoring him like this."<p>

"What did I say about getting preachy?"

"I think we can both agree the situation is awkward enough without making it worse."

* * *

><p>"I heard what you said about Katy."<p>

"Oh, not you too." Damon groaned.

"yes me too." She said, "Doesn't matter though, it's not true."

He raised an eyebrow, "What makes you say that?"

"I think what's really happening is it's been a week, she's avoiding you, and you're getting nervous. For once in your life, you care about someone, and you're scared she'll leave. It's understandable."

Damon groaned again inwardly and looked back at them, "How is she anyway?"

Elena looked at him sympathetically, "She misses you too."

* * *

><p>Katy told him her concerns about the adoption just then, and Jeremy waited patiently before responding.<p>

"I think I get it." He nodded, "You make a good point."

She nodded slightly to herself.

"That doesn't mean it hold true though."

She gave him a look, "Excu-'

"hey kids! Move!" A guy growled at them. They started to get out of the way as he slurred, "Go slower! We got all day!"

"Hey! Douche! Are you particularly fond of your genitals?" Katy shouted back; before he could answer she said, "Then shut up for your own good, give your hand one last chance to say goodbye."

The guy groaned, pushing passed her. Jeremy shifted his eyes uncomfortably, then looked back at Katy who only replied, "Oh shut up!"

* * *

><p>Later on, Sheriff Forbes finally arrived, all dressed up for the occasion- as opposed to her usual uniform. Damon, of course, was the first to take notice.<p>

"You know I love a woman in uniform but I have to side with this one. You look..." He searched for the word, "You look smashing."

"Thank you Damon. Cheers!" she clinked her glass to his, "I needed that. You know I had my doubts about you at first but like everyone else on the council you've won me over."

"Thanks Liz. It's really nice how welcoming the council has been, I like my life here in Mystic Falls. Starting to feel like home again."

"Have you talked to Katy yet?"

"No, but I'm gonna talk to her tonight."

"Well, you're not gonna like what I have to tell you." She said, "Jonathan Gilbert's claims check out. Blood bank, the missing people, all of its true. We might have a problem."

* * *

><p>Katy wandered around for a while after she split from Jeremy. Unfortunately for her, John caught up with her.<p>

"Katy! Fancy seeing you here."

"Whatever moves your furniture."

"Mind if we talk?"

"Kinda'. I'm having a fascinating conversation with a wall."

"I just have a few questions about your parents."

"Well, I'd rather talk to the wall."

As she started to walk away, John suddenly said, "Sarah Louise Weston, formerly Sarah Jennings, born August 3rd 1973, wife of Adam Harold Weston."

Slowly, Katy turned back around, standing silently as she waited for him to continue.

"I have all my brother's medical files. He was a doctor at Mystic Falls Hospital. When I heard your name, it sounded familiar. So I did a little browsing, and it turns out _your _mother was a former patient of his."

Katy didn't say anything.

"Strange though, she spent significant amounts of time there for chronic headaches and just left without word one day." His cocky smile increased, "But she wasn't really just a patient was she Katy? Because blood bags slowly disappeared, little by little, and then dropped dramatically when she left."

She snorted, "Oh right, now I remember this place. Old hit we used to restock. Customer service is a bitch, huh?"

"You're admitting it!" He said surprised, "Pretty bold, all things considering."

""How long have you been working this side of life?"

"Long enough."

"I doubt it." She said, giving him her 'wow, you're stupid look."

"Why's that?"

"Because I may be thirteen, but I still have some credibility here. Even if you exposed me, it'd be useless as I'm only seen a kid without proper guidance."

"True, but it would be interesting to the Sheriff. Serve well as a nice anecdote when I tell her the Salvatores are vampires."

"What do you want?" She snapped.

"Any information you have on your old customers, raiding plans, and any recent or active plans of the Salvatore brothers."

"No."

John looked only slightly impressed by her refusal, then warned, "I'll go to Sheriff Forbes."

"Before or after she arrests you for your unauthorized 'browse' at medical files?" Katy asked.

He blinked his eyes a few times in confusion before she explained.

"I hate to break it to you John, but you are neither a relative with legal permission nor a licensed medical professional. So if you even _think _about exposing us, I'll tell the Sheriff first."

Katy smirked in triumph, wacked him lightly on the arm, and left for the next room.

* * *

><p>"No, I don't want you to compel him." Elena said in regards to her brother.<p>

"if he keeps asking questions..." He warned.

"Damon, no I'm serious. I'm not going to do that to him again. I'll handle it."

He was reluctant-and _very _annoyed- but he said, "Okay. Don't say I didn't warn you."

He picked up a rose from the small vase beside them and gave it to her. As he began to walk off, their eyes locked until finally he was out of her sight.

Damon set off to find Katy, whom he soon found after he turned a corner, "Katy."

She turned around briefly, but then started off again. He groaned and ran up to her, "Katy!"

He caught her arm and pulled her off to the side, "I don't have time for this game of hide and seek, we need to talk now."

"I don't wanna talk right now." she said.

"Well tough luck, because Sheriff Forbes just informed me your little detour here in town has been cut short."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, given circumstances of your arrival, you only have two weeks left before it becomes needlessly complicated to complete the transaction."

"Well, I need to take that time." She insisted.

He sighed angrily, "Fine, but you stop this childish avoidance now!"

"Well what did you think you were adopting, a 30 year old?"

"No. Someone better than retreating when the going gets tough."

Katy was tongue-tied; in better circumstances he might've found it entertaining. But after a moment he left.

* * *

><p>In an attempt to relax, Damon went onto the balcony, but was shortly interrupted.<p>

"Damon, right?" John said.

"John."

"We didn't get the chance to meet at the council meeting."

"Yeah it's a pleasure." He said, "Are you enjoying the kickoff?"

"Oh yeah. I forgot how much fun these small town celebrations can be."

"Yeah." Damon replied, "When was the last time you were here?"

"Hasn't been that long, my brother's funeral. How long have you been in town?" He questioned.

"Oh, not long at all." He smirked back.

The two men had taken a full minute to stare each other down. Given a different location, it might have become a literal pissing contest!

"So what do you think Damon? You know this vampire problem is real, right? It's a potential blood bath."

"I wouldn't overreact John." Damon replied, his voice lacking anything besides mild annoyance.

"Oh, I think it's like 1864 all over again, vampires running amok." John said, practically beaming, "I guess we're just gonna have to hunt them down, throw them in a church and burn them to ash."

"That's the story, huh?"

"Part of the story, yeah."

"Oh, there's more?"

"Oh, there's a lot more." He clarified, "See, it seems there was a tomb under the church, where vampires were hidden, waiting for someone to come along and set them free. But then you already knew that didn't you? I mean, you're the one that did it."

"And you're telling me this why?"

"I just thought we'd get the introductions out of the way." He shrugged, "I've met Katy, your 'kid'. Better known though as Katherine _Weston_, not Salvatore."

"Your point?"

"Do you really think she'll accept you? The impending adoption? After all, you're just one of the species that killed her family, took everything from her. Unfortunate, she's a bright girl. But if she's half as smart as I think she is, as smart as you clearly see too, all _she _sees when she looks at you is a monster."

"You know that I could rip your heart out before anyone would notice?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, okay. But you probably ingest vervain so..."

"Why don't you take a bite to find out?"

"It's not worth my time." He smirked, then started to walk away, turning back to look at John for a minute.

But before John knew what was happening, Damon sped up to him and snapped his neck, throwing him over the balcony. He looked down briefly at the body before he went inside.

* * *

><p>Later on, Katy went to find a familiar face as Mayor Lockwood began his speech around the end of the night, her face forlorn and tired.<p>

She came by Jeremy who noticed her expression, "Hey, you okay?"

She nodded, "I think I'm gonna turn in early."

"Alright, I'm bored I'll come with you." He told her as they headed for the door, barely catching John's name being called out for 'Town's Favorite Son'.

Damon went to Alaric, "Look at his right hand."

"Who's?"

"Town's Favorite Son. Look at his ring."

Ric took a closer look and then quietly exclaimed, "Well, it looks like mine."

"Yeah, and that would be a big coincidence if he didn't just come back from the dead 5 minutes ago." He paused, "Where the hell did you get that ring?"

"Isobel, my wife."

"Who gave birth to Elena, under the medical care of the esteemed Dr. Grayson Gilbert, John's _brother!_"

"Do you think John knew Isobel?"

"I think John knows a lot of things."

* * *

><p>"Do you think I should just say no?" Katy asked, lying on the couch.<p>

"Not my call Kate." He smiled, "Just relax, you'll do fine."

She gave Jeremy a half smile and hugged him, "Thanks buddy."

He returned her hug quickly, then supposedly headed for bed soon after. She pulled the blankets around her, but then pulled out the adoption papers and just stared at them.


	25. Family

Chapter 24  
>Family<p>

School had been pretty brutal; Elena convinced me to take a few days and study extra hard to get my grades back up when she found my report card.

I swear to God, Mom is possessing her, because she went on a rant about my future, and ended with "Sweet Jesus, she's just like my brother!"

Replace 'brother' with 'father' and you'll get the idea.

I was already scaving by with an average of C's and one or two B's, and worse with on D in Science.

So today, I was studying with Dex and Joelle, hoping to help get my grades back up. But it got hard to study when Dex was going through half a pack of Newports.

"Dex, can you not do that right now? It's giving me a headache." I told her.

"Fine." She said, putting out her cigarette, "It's not so bad once you try it though."

"But it's bad for you." Joelle said, her face slightly panicked.

"Says who?"

"Well, studies have shown that drugs can make your brain bad." Joelle replied.

After that phrasing, I knew this wasn't gonna end well.

"Bad how?" Dex said, somewhat patronizing, "It's relaxing, what's wrong with that?"

Joelle thought for a moment, "You see weird things."

Dex shrugged, "You see weird things when they give you a tranquilizer at the hospital, no one complains then."

"I think what she means is your brain becomes non-functional after copious amounts of illegal drugs." I tried.

She snorted, "Sounds great to me."

I sighed, "Look Dex, we're really worried about you. I think you should talk to someone."

She stopped and gave us both glares, "You two weren't worried about me before we began these little therapy sessions. So why don't you little bitches do your thing, and stay outta my business."

She started lighting up another cigarette, took a puff, and then blew it in my face.

"Dex-"

"I'm outta here."

We kept looking at her until she walked out of our line of sight; Joelle turned to me, now looking very packed, "She needs to stop, she's gonna get in trouble."

"I know, but what can we do? She's just pushing us away the more we try, this is the third time we've blown an attempt to talk to her."

"We need an adult, someone who knows what their talking about to back us up."

"She won't listen to them anymore then she'll listen to us. It might even make it worse, they'll just send her to a clinic!" I exclaimed.

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Not if she's unwilling. She's doing illegal drugs right now, and she's already been warned multiple times. As far as I know its jail or rehab, and knowing Dex, she'll go to prison before she takes help." I sighed.

"What if we tell her parents? Maybe she'll listen to them?" She suggested.

"No, we don't know that for sure. I think we need to take some time and collect information first. Start brushing up on our facts, and we'll take it from there."

"Fine." She opened one of her textbooks, and then turned back to me, "Because I for one want Dex healthy."

"No arguments here."

I didn't know a lot about drugs or addiction, but I thought if I could ask Jeremy about it maybe I'd get some magical idea to help Dex quit.

I'd been lazy about it, but as I started doing my Science homework, it was talking all about how the body reacts to chemicals, and named approximately 20 different ways someone can die or get into terminal medical conditions by using drugs.

And I'd be damned if that happened to Dex.

_***Third Person's POV***_

During that time, Damon had been called into a meeting with John and Sheriff Forbes.

"There was a disturbance at the hospital blood bank last night; some of the supply was compromised." Sheriff told him.

"Compromised? You mean stolen?"

She nodded, "We almost missed it. The inventory records were altered but when the night manager was questioned he had no recollection of changing them."

"Meaning that the vampire who stole the blood used mind control to hide the theft." John explained.

"I know what you meant."

"We wouldn't have noticed had John not alerted us to recent discrepancies in other hospital blood banks in the country."

Damon took a minute, practically saying through his teeth, "How lucky for us, we have John."

"We're stepping up security at the hospital, giving the guard vervain to prevent this from happening again."

"Sheriff, may I offer a suggestion?" John said, "Why don't Damon and I put our heads together? We can track down whoever is doing this."

Damon managed to send a glare in his direction while Sheriff said, "Truthfully I can use the extra hands. Is that something you would be willing to do?"

"Well, of course, I mean if it'll help." He said, giving a false smile.

"I think we could make a good team, don't you think Damon?" John smirked.

"John, whatever I can do to help keep this town safe; even if it means spending time with you."

* * *

><p>Katy knocked on the door of her counselor's office, "Ms. Lark? You requested me outta class."<p>

"Oh yes Katy, come sit." She said, "I'm sorry to take you out of class, but you've been missing our sessions."

"Yeah, I've been busy."

"I've noticed." She smiled, "You've been making friends I see?"

"You mean Dex and Joelle?" Ms. Lark nodded, "Yeah they're great friends. Is that all?"

"Well, that's part of it." She clarified, "I'm told that Dam- Mr. Salvatore, is adopting you officially."

Katy's jaw slacked in shock, "Where in the name of hell did you hear that?"

Ms. Lark gave her sympathetic smiled, "Principal Winthrop told me sweetie. The legal firm being used to administer the adoption called to confirm you go here, and your progress- which is a topic for another time. But since I'm working with you, Principal Winthrop thought I should be informed."

"I see." Katy replied in a monotone.

"So tell me about that."

Katy shrugged, "Not much to tell. He asked, and I said I wanted to think about it. End of boring story."

"So you haven't given him an answer yet?"

"I don't have an answer yet." She said, "Can I go now?"

"Are you sure you don't have an answer yet?" Katy nodded, "Let's fix that."

Ms. Lark reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a coin, "Heads you leave, tails you stay."

Katy thought this was a completely ridiculous exercise, but she smiled slightly and nodded to Ms. Lark, who flipped the coin high in the air. But as the coin came down, Katy got a contemplating look on her face, and she leaned forward to see where the coin might land.

But before it hit the desk, Ms. Lark caught it in her enclosed hand, and simply put the coin back in its drawer.

She gave Katy a smile, "What do you think now?"

* * *

><p>Later, Ms. Lark told Katy that she needed to start her Gym classes immediately since her grades were already falling flat, and she hadn't attended any of the classes for Gym since she got there.<p>

The problem was, you had to buy a uniform for Gym, and they wouldn't let you participate if you didn't have one.

"You can't borrow mine, we have the same schedule." Joelle told her sadly when she heard, "Didn't she tell you where to get one?"

"No, she just said 'find a uniform'." She groaned, "Where am I gonna find one?"

"In lost and found."

The girls turned to see Dex, for once without a cigarette in her hand. She had her arms crossed, and had her chin turned up in pride.

"You're talking to us again?"

"This is the only free table without bitches, expect you." Her eyes refered to Katy, "But I can stand you. Anyway, just go steal one from lost and found, girls leave stuff there and never come back for it so they have a reason to skip class."

Katy and Joelle turned to look at each other; the second shook her head slightly, "I don't think this is a good idea."

"Well, what choice do you have?" Dex asked, "Come on."

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Damon opened the door to reveal Anna.<p>

"I suppose I should be grateful, you learned how to use the bell." He sneered.

"I'm here on behalf of my mother."

"On behalf of or in spite of?"

"I'm sorry about what the other vampires did to Stefan. Abducting him, torturing him… It wasn't supposed to go down like that."

"You're playing house with half of a tomb of really pissed off vampires. What do you think was going to happen?" He practically growled.

"My mom is devastated; they tried to over throw her." Anna explained.

"Why isn't she here telling me this?"

"She doesn't really do apologies."

"Well, it's a coincidence, 'cause I don't do forgiveness. Just run along." Then he scolded, "And if you're going to continue playing house with these little vampire pets, you might wanna stop robbing the blood bank dry because they're onto it!"

Anna looked confused, "I haven't been to the local blood bank in at least a week."

"Then it's one of your others."

"The others are gone, Damon."

"Well, where did they go?" He said, pointedly.

"They weren't cut out for this town. After what happened with your brother my mom kicked them out and they took off. It's just us and Harper now."

* * *

><p>A little while after Anna left, Katy came in, looking around.<p>

"And she finally returns!" Damon said, walking in, "How was school girlie?"

She looked uncomfortable, "Not good."

Damon had a short flash of concern go across his face, "Why? What happened?"

She slumped down on the couch, "Well, I've been missing Gym, since we haven't had time to get a uniform. And today Ms. Lark informed me my grades aren't good enough for me to wait for it. So Dex and Joelle took me to lost and found and we took a uniform that didn't really… Fit."

"What do you mean, didn't fit?"

"I mean, the shirt and pants were three sizes too big, and the sneakers were two sizes too small. Dex used her hair scrunchie to make the pants fit. And during a volleyball game, they kept sliding down, so I had one hand holding them up. But coach kept shouting 'Weston! Both hands in the game!' and when I tried and I jumped up to hit the ball, my pants fell off-"

Damon simply roared with laughter at the image.

"It's not funny!"

"Oh come on Katy it is!" He noticed her glaring at him and cleared his throat, "I'm sorry, so what happened next?"

She shrugged, "Well, Joelle and Dex covered me, and the guys laughed. Though, I know Dex said something along the lines of 'Shut up Terrance! That's the closet you'll ever get to see a girl naked!'" Now both she and Damon laughed, and she admitted, "_That_ was funny."

After they laughed for a minute, Damon looked at her a second and asked, "Why did you come back here?"

"No avoidance remember? And I do live here." She smirked.

"Aw, you missed little old me?" He mocked.

"Like you didn't miss me."

They smiled at each other, and then he asked, "How's that decision making going?

She sighed awkwardly, "Okay look, I haven't decided yet. But I've been talking to Elena, Jeremy, and my nutty school counselor. And so far I think that I need to spend some time with you, maybe it'll help my 'decision-making'."

"Well sorry girlie, you picked a bad time to suggest family bonding. We might have an issue."

* * *

><p>Damon told Katy what had been happening with Stefan, and even told her about his recent conversation with him.<p>

"So do you believe him?"

"No, I know Stefan on human blood."

She nodded, "So what's the plan?"

"I'm gonna tail him for a while, I need you to go back to Elena's for a while-"

Katy gave him an aggravated look, "Ahem. You remember the last time you left me at home?"

"Let me finish." He said, "I need you to hang around Elena, keep her occupied, ask her about Stefan and his activities. Maybe it'll help if I can't find anything today."

"Fine." She conceded, "But know that you sticking me with the desk jobs will affect my decision!"

"Oooh! I'm so scared!"

* * *

><p>Katy finally stepped up to her job of keeping Elena occupied, which recently entailed helping her with Miss Mystic Falls.<p>

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow, I love you." Elena said, finishing up a conversation with Stefan; she picked up two dresses and held them in front of Katy, "So which one do you think?"

Both dresses were pretty; one was a sleek dark blue dress and the other was a sleek strapless cream colored one.

Katy thought a moment, "Hmmm, I like the cream but it's a little too 'wedding dress' for the occasion. So, blue one I guess."

"Okay." She said, placing the blue dress on the couch, "Thanks for helping me out, I'm having trouble focusing."

"Stefan giving you a whiplash?"

"No… Yeah. It's good, he's happy, happier than I've ever seen him. I guess it just seems sudden is all; he goes from struggling to chipper almost overnight. But I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, right? I've just got to get through this pageant."

"Why are you doing it anyway?"

"I have to, it's my mom's legacy. It's what she left for me to carry on."

"Ahh, family legacy. You know what my mom left as family legacy?" Elena shook her head, "A career feeding some of the most dangerous creatures of all time, the same species which had in fact killed her, and a very disturbing Ferbie collection that managed to make it into our car. Point is Elena, family legacy is highly overrated."

She laughed, "You sound like Damon."

"Well, maybe we have a point." Katy replied, "Anyway, I gotta go, I wanna talk to Jeremy about something. Good luck Miss Mystic."

She walked out of the kitchen and headed upstairs, knocking on Jeremy's door. He opened it and smiled at her.

"Hey Kate, come on in. What's up?"

She sat down next to him on his bed, "I have some questions."

"Is this about the adoption again?"

"No, I wanted to ask about addiction."

Jeremy's interest was piqued, "Addiction? To what?"

She shrugged, "Drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, the works. We're learning about it in school, but teachers are pretty generic and don't really give you an unbiased point of view."

"Katy." He gave her a look, "Tell me the truth."

She sighed, shutting her eyes for a moment, "My friend, she's a drug addict. I want to help her, but I don't know much about drugs, so I need to learn."

"Well, the first thing you need to know is that no matter what anyone says, she won't stop." He told her, "The last thing she'll listen to is preaching."

"Maybe, if I don't understand what it's like, or at least have an idea. That's what I need you for, to understand." She begged.

"Look, Kate, addiction usually starts at home from my experience. It's something to get away from your family and life, as far as I'm concerned she won't even consider cutting back until those problems ease up or go away." He explained.

"Well, how do I find out the issues so I can help?"

"Katy, that's not going to help her, she won't tell you her issues, and even if she did, she won't accept help unless she wants it."

_***Katy's POV***_

On the day of Miss Mystic, I helped Elena and Jenna set things up, but I soon left when it got awkward, and when I had nothing to do or couldn't help anymore.

So the first thing I did was find Damon, and I soon found him walking in a hallway, and after we said our brief hellos I asked, "Hey, did you find anything?"

Damon nodded, "Oh yeah, he's swilling."

Even though he'd told me, it was somewhat shocking to hear, and I asked hesitantly, "Well, what are we gonna do now?"

And Damon told me very firmly, "You are going to stay with Jeremy, I'm going to talk to Elena. You are not going anywhere near Stefan right now."

"He won't hurt me."

"You don't know that, and you're not going to find out."

I felt very put down, I didn't like being treated like a child, so I insisted, "No, I am helping!"

Damon grabbed me by the shoulders, looked me directly in the eyes and said, "You know how you can help Katy? You can give me the peace of mind of knowing when Stefan snaps, you are nowhere near!"

He waited a second before continuing, "Because I don't care what official papers and lawyers say, you are in my care and under my watch, so you are not going anywhere near him! Got it! Now either tag along with Jeremy, or stay in my line of sight until I say so."

It was shocking, I knew Damon cared about my well-being, but that was the first time I saw he cared about _me_.

He never used the phrases 'I don't need to be concerned with watching you.' Or 'I can't risk blowing the operation if you screw up.' Or something to that affect.

He legitimately cared if I got hurt, and cared about the possibly of my getting injured. I suppose it never quite hit me until then, and so I just nodded and headed off to find Jeremy.

* * *

><p>I saw Jeremy trying flirt with some girl, so I decided to just leave that situation alone for a while, after all I have to follow the Bro Code.<p>

So I hung around Jenna and Alaric, but then I also had to leave that situation alone, so I just decided the safest bet was the stay with the crowd. But given my luck, one of those people in the crowd was the ever inquisitive John Gilbert.

"Katy." He greeted, as the announcements for the Miss Mystic Dance began.

I barely gave him a nod as I asked, "More threats today? Did you find any good ones?"

He laughed a little, "No threats. I have an offer."

I gave him a look of mock surprise, "An offer? _Really_?"

He nodded. "You help me, and I will give you your mother's files."

At this point I had to recycle my 'dumbass' look, "You think I want some bullshit medical files? That means nothing to me."

"Not her medical files."

Before I could respond, Mr. Lockwood announced, "Miss Tina Fell, escorted by Bartholomew Whitmore."

During the applause, I cleared my throat and asked, "What are you talking about? What kind of files?"

And John explained, "When I realized your mother was dealing in blood, I started looking her up at City Hall, and found some of her records."

"Well, why should _they_ interest me?"

"Because those files just may contain information about remaining blood relatives of yours."

My eyes widened, and I had to keep my jaw from dropping, barely registering Mr. Lockwood announcing Caroline's entrance.

I looked over to John again, he was beaming with pride; he thought he'd won!

And my mind raced with so many thoughts and fears, but I was brought back to reality when I saw Damon escorting Elena to the dance. And I looked at them for a minute, and it hit me that Stefan was nowhere in sight.

I didn't even stay for the dance; the second the situation became clear to me, I ran to find out what had happened.

And I soon found the Sheriff and her deputies surrounding a bathroom, which looked like a hurricane had it, and I saw blood mixed with the glass around the sink.

So I ran off again to go wait for Damon, not knowing if he knew about the crime scene upstairs. But I got lost around the house, and I went outside going towards the crowd, but when I turned I saw Stefan with some girl walking into the woods.

And I started to go towards them, but he turned my way and saw me, I stayed in place but he took one look at me and ran off so quick I couldn't tell which way he'd went.

I heard the music stop, and I ran to Damon who had just finished his dance with Elena, and I told him everything I saw.

"I think he was going left but I can't really tell." I told him urgently.

He nodded, pacing slightly, "Alright. I've got to tell Elena, you need to go stay with Jenna and Alaric and wait for us."

I wanted to obey, but I felt my lip twitch with fear. And Damon seemed to notice this too and he assured me, "I'll drive you back home, I'll tell you everything, and if I don't come back on time you can tell Alaric and he'll come to find us."

I nodded only a little and placed myself in a small chair, "I'll be here."

He left soon after that.

While he was gone, I waited patiently in my seat, twiddling my fingers nervously as I sat still. Until finally, I heard a siren going outside, this made my heart start going.

This was getting all too familiar, so I ran outside into the dark parking lot and saw an ambulance parked towards the surrounding woods. And to my relief, I saw Damon talking to the Sheriff next to the ambulance.

I walked towards them, and as I came closer they seemed to have finished their business and Liz left. I got up to Damon and asked,

"Is everyone okay?"

"For now." He said, "But we need to do something about Stefan."

"You're not gonna-"

"No, but it will be severe." He admitted.

_***Third Person's POV***_

Damon drove himself and Katy back to the boarding house, but up ahead he saw Pearl and Anna at their doorstep. He told Katy to wait in the car while he talked to them.

"All right now, this is getting weird." Damon told them as he walked up.

"We're here to talk." Anna said.

"Not in the mood, today's been a no good, very bad day."

"Annabelle tells me you're looking for something I took from Jonathan Gilbert."

He paused, "I'm listening. What is it?"

"Jonathan was passionate about his inventions. He confided in me that he had created a detection device meant to track down the town's vampire element."

"It was a pocket watch." He recalled.

"That's what it turned out to be yes. But that's not what I stole. I discovered my mistake when I saw the watch in Jonathan's hand, the night they took us, its stile pointed at me." She said, handing him the small device.

"So what is this?"

"I have no idea but now it's yours."

"What's the catch?"

"There is no catch. My daughter wants to stay here. I want to stay here. You refused to trust us and for good reason. Consider this an apology." She glanced briefly at Katy, still sitting in the car, "After all, we both have families to look after."

* * *

><p>During this time, Stefan was pacing angrily upstairs in his room. Grabbing his head, and growling in frustration and anger.<p>

But slowly Elena walked into the room.

"You shouldn't be here."

"I know." She said.

"Now you know." He said, referring to his new eating habits.

"That wasn't you."

"Oh, it was absolutely me. A monster, a predator, that's who I am Elena."

"That's what the blood makes you."

"The blood brings out what's_ inside_ of me and if you think any differently then you're an idiot." He said his eyes hard and his voice low.

"I know this isn't you Stefan." She insisted.

"I wanted to drain every ounce of blood from that girl's body."

"No."

"It's who I am Elena." He started to growl slightly.

"No, you can't scare me off."

"Why would you risk it? Why would you come here?"

"Because I did this, this is my fault; I'm the one who made you drink the blood."

"All you did was expose me to who I really am."

"This isn't you." She persisted.

"Stop saying that!" He growled, then back away, "Don't get any closer to me."

"I'm not gonna give up on you! I believe in you!"

He pushed her up against a wall, slamming his fist next to her head, "Stop! Stop!" He stopped, calming down, "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. It's okay." She replied soothingly.

He laid his head sadly on her shoulder, "I don't know what's happening to me."

"It's okay, Stefan. It's okay." She pulled out a vervain dart and jabbed him with it, "You're gonna be okay."

As Stefan fell to the ground, Damon came up the stairs, looking at Elena and his brother.

"Sure you want to do this?" He asked her.

"I'm sure."

They took Stefan down to the basement, and put him in the caged part where Damon had been held up once in the same position.

"There's no guarantee it's going to work." He said, locking the doors.

"It has to."

Damon nodded, and began to leave as she sat down besides the cage. He turned back and asked,

"Coming?"

She shook her head, "I'm gonna stay here."

Once again he nodded, and sat down beside her. Damon heard a rustling above them upstairs, and called,

"Katy!"

In a minute she came downstairs, looking somewhat worried.

"What's wrong?"

"We're gonna hang down here for a while, come and sit with us." He said, "Just so we know where you are."

She thought that was a little weird, but she sat beside them in silence just like them.

* * *

><p>"My limbs are going numb, we should wake her up now." Damon said, referring to Katy who had fallen asleep on him.<p>

"Come on, just let her sleep. One of us should." Elena paused for a moment in thought, "Thank you Damon. You've really helped today, and I didn't think you were capable of any of this; helping Stefan, protecting us. I guess what I'm saying is, I think you could be a good father, with some practice."

But instead of a snide remark or even a smirk, Damon got a blank look on his face and pushed Katy off him, walking upstairs.

Katy herself awoke with a jolt, "What's going on?"

Elena looked almost astonished as she said, "Katy, go talk to Damon."

The young girl looked confused, but she got up and headed upstairs to where Damon sat in the living room, pouring a glass of whiskey.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked.

"Answer me honestly okay?" she nodded, "Do you think of me as your parent? As your father? Do you even think I should take his place in your life?"

Katy sighed, "No, Damon. You will never take my Dad's place, and I don't want you to."

He paused a moment, reverting back to his sarcastic self, "Thanks for being honest."

"That's not a bad thing, Damon."

Damon gave her a look of interest, gesturing for her to continue.

"You don't need to take my Dad's place, you have your own place, your very own custom-made Damon place. Lexi wasn't supposed to replace my mother, but was a mother-like figure to me. That's what you are to me."

She sat down on the couch, continuing, "I told Elena that I wasn't unaccustomed to setting up new roots, I just didn't realize I wasn't used to keeping them. And with John recently offering me a chance to track down some family members; maybe he lied but he was going to give me the resources. And I was amazed to realize that, when given the opportunity, I didn't want to."

Damon slowly started to come closer to her, "It scared me a little, but I know that if given the choice between a family and a normal life or you and this town, I want to stay. If it's still on the table, can I be your kid?"

Damon started to smile, but then he decided to smirk instead, "Yeah. Of course you can."

Katy smiled, one of her first real grins in that house. But she stopped and asked,

"So should we hug or something?"

Damon kind of shrugged nonchalantly, "Well, we are father and daughter technically."

So they nodded and both went in for a tight hug, during which Damon asked, "What do you think?"

"A little uncomfortable." She admitted, her voice kind of muffled, "But really because you're crushing my spine."

"Oh!" He pulled away, "Sorry."

Katy giggled as she stretched out her back, "We need to work on that."


	26. Beginning Of The End

**A/N: Sorry for the late update, had computer issues. But here it is the finale of Katy's 1****st**** Season. It's incredibly long, and I hope you enjoy it.**

**Like I said, I will not post Season 2 until around the end of October or November. When it does come out, I will have made a youtube audio reading of the first Chapter of Season 2.**

**I've been trying to think of a new cover for Katy Season 2 and I've come up blank. So if anyone wants to submit one, I'd be eternally grateful.**

**But Most importantly, Thank you all for your support and love for Katy, Damon, and what me and my best friend have decided to call Jaty (Jeremy/Katy).**

**I always look forward to your reviews, they really make me feel like I'm doing a good job. Thank you all **

Chapter 25  
>Beginning Of The End<p>

A few days later, Damon was still pondering over the small device that Pearl had given him; it wasn't even funny anymore, how long he spent trying to figure out what the damn thing was.

Elena, who had been staying over, walked in to pack up some of her things while he did this asking,

"Did you ever figure out what that is?"

"Nope. Whatever it is, it doesn't work".

"Pearl didn't say anything else about it?"

"She thought she was stealing his vampire compass, but that was a pocket watch." He sighed, turning back to her, "That Johnathan Gilbert was a crazy scientist."

Elena rolled her eyes at him.

"Have you spoken to your uncle lately?"

"I've been avoiding him, actually. That, and I've been here most nights."

"So, you'll be here again tonight?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Yes." He said, "You're a _complete_ nuisance."

She laughed slightly, "Heh. See you later." And she started to leave, then turned back, "Hey, what are you doing with Katy?"

"What do you mean?"

"To celebrate." She clarified, "Are you gonna throw a party? A dinner? What?"

"Nothing until Stefan feeds."

She gave a disapproving look, crossing her arms over her chest, "Damon, you shouldn't wait on these things, they're special, they need to be remembered."

"Yeah, and I think we can both agree no one wants to remember Stefan going 'Jack The Ripper' during cake."

"Just promise me you'll do something with her." She pleaded, "Please! Please!"

Damon started dramatically holding his head and screaming as Elena rolled her eyes, starting towards the door again. He on the other hand, stopped to appreciate her 'assets'.

Look don't touch.

* * *

><p>During lunch at Mystic Falls Junior High, Katy and Joelle sat with sullen looks on their faces. They each did research on addiction and drug abuse, and it didn't bode well.<p>

They waited for Dex to show up at their usual spot outside; she soon did, looking as sarcastic and uninterested as ever, "Who died?"

Joelle went to speak, but Katy shook her head at her; she cleared her throat and began with, "Dex, we need to talk."

"Oh not again-"

"Please! Just listen to me." Katy said.

Dex had a look of annoyance and disbelief on her face as she sat down, "Fine. Dazzle me."

She cleared her throat again, "Listen, I know we've been getting really preachy with all this-_I'll_be the first to admit we don't understand your situation, and we won't make you tell us." She bit her lip for a second, continuing, "But you guys already know I've lost people I love this year, and I'm still getting used to this town, and I consider you and Jo to be my best friends."

"Yeah, I'm a hoot, go on."

"You are, you are." Katy laughed, then turned sullen again, gesturing to herself and Joelle, "We've been studying though Dex, about drugs and the like; I don't need to tell you that what we found wasn't pretty. But Dex, it really scares me, the idea that God forbid these side-effects could happen to you and I never tried to help."

"Katy, shut up for a second." She said, "These 'side-effects' are not as common as people make them sound."

"Yeah but-"

"Katy_, listen_ to me, I'm not gonna die."

"You might!" Joelle said.

Katy tried to interrupt but Joeele kept going, "It's gonnaurt your body! And you'll wush you listened to us!"

"Thanks for the sermon Rab-bitch."

Dex got up and left; Katy gave a look to Joelle getting up and following her.

"Dex!" she cried, "Dex wait! She didn't mean-"

"Oh don' pull that crap."

"She didn't say it right." She took a breath once Dex stopped running, "She's just scared, just like me. Please, you just have to understand; we're scared that if we don't say something, years later when you quit, it's because you're attached to a machine and not because you wanted to."

* * *

><p><em>***Boarding House***<em>

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Alaric Saltzman."

"Before I hang up, how did you get this number?" Damon asked.

"Ah, it's a mystery." He joked, "Listen, I've, uh, been doing some digging on Elena's uncle. You interested?"

"What kind of digging?"

"I've got an old friend from Duke; who studied criminology when we were there together. Let's just say he's become a very proficient digger."

"Well, did he find anything?"

"Well, I had him run a track on John's cell records. He was getting a call from a number… The same number that Elena dialed to get Isobel. And then the number was disconnected."

"Isobel knows John." He shrugged, "Whatever. We knew that."

"Right. Well, after that, he started getting calls from a new number. And I had my firned run a geotrack. Got the address. It's… It's an apartment in Grove Hill."

Damon stopped for a second, his face a little screwed up in confusion, "Isobel's in Grove Hill?"

"I don't know. I thought we could take a look and see what we find."

"Perfect. Give me the address."

"Oh, so you can go without me? No, I don't think so."

"I'm not going with you. You tried to kill me."

"Yeah, well, you _did _kill me."

Before he could respond, the annoying little beep on his cell went off, telling him he was getting another call. So he paused his chat with Ric, switching to the next call, "What?"

"I'm just grabbing some clothes, and then I'll be right over." Elena said, "Hows Stefan?"

"Extra broody. Hold on." He switched back to Ric, "You drive. Pick me up in an hour."

"Done."

He nodded briefly to himself, switching back finally to Elena. He told her about Stefan and how he wouldn't eat anything, leading Elena to awkwardly ask about Stefan's favorite type of animal blood. Damon had been jokingly disgusted, but he said later,

"Stefan likes… Puppy blood… Little golden retriever puppies with cute, floppy ears. That's his favorite." He smirked as she hung up."

Literally seconds later, the phone rang again, "Man of the Hour." He joked, clicking the button, "Hello?"

"Hey, can I have dinner with Dex tonight?"

"Sure. Hows school going?" He asked.

"Fine; teachers are nicer today, I can't leave a classroom without them saying 'Congratulations Katy!'… I can't tell if I've been adopted or my wife had a baby."

He laughed, "Speaking of, Elena suggested we celebrate, what do you think? Any ideas?"

"I don't know, you?"

"I'm out." He shrugged, "Just call after dinner and I'll pick you up, we'll brainstorm."

"Okay, see ya."

* * *

><p><em>***Katy's POV***<em>

Later after school, Dex and I took a bus back to Mystic Falls, then we walked the rest of the way.

It took a couple minutes, and I noticed that as we got closer, Dex got a little itchy; her pace slowed down, she kept her hands in her pockets, and kept shrugging like she had a bad cramp in her neck.

I didn't pay much mind to it, but I couldn't help but look over at her as we came closer to a house at the end of the street we'd been walking on.

Dex fished through her pockets for her key as we walked up the steps, while I looked around.

The house was a small, dark red sided and black-roofed Victorian knock-off, surrounded by a metal link gate and a lime green lawn.

She got the key and opened the door to reveal a staircase right in front of the entrance. Off to the left was a pale-blue painted living room, with very modern looking window, except for an old-timey sewing machine at the base of the window with picture frames all over the top.

On the right was a tiny dining room with dark wood and green decorations all over. Setting the table was a tall, no-figured, blonde woman who resembled Dex in eyes and tight-lipped smile.

"Hi sweetie!" she greeted, and then turned to me, "You must be Katy, it's so nice to meet your dear."

"Katy this is my mom, Mrs. Moore."

"Oh please, just call me Molly." She smiled, "Go on in the living room, I just need a minute to set up."

I nodded walking into the living room; I looked over the pictures on the sewing machine. As I looked at them, I saw what could only be a younger looking Dex, except she was nothing like the pale skinned anorexic Dex I knew.

This little girl, probably 7 or 8, had rosy round cheeks, slim sides but a noticeable tummy. But she wasn't 'fat' like Joelle described, this just seemed to be a little girl in the Gangly Phase.

The Gangly Phase, as mom liked to call it, was the phase where nothing on your body fits- sort of like pre-pre-adolescence. It's like when a girl gets the figure of a thin young woman but she hasn't yet grown tall enough for it to show, or a guy gets really tall but the rest of him is lanky and tiny like a little kid.

My mom told me her experience was getting a D-cup that would look great on a teenager, but looked wrong on a ten-year-old.

My experience was that my feet haven't grown from a size 6 since I was eight, often leading to me entering Bella territory when it comes to the fine line of grace and clumsiness.

Before I could take a look at more of the photos, Dex grabbed my arm, pulling me towards her mom and a teenage looking girl with the same black hair as Dex.

"Katy, this is Judy's sister Melanie." She introduced.

"Hi." Melanie greeted.

Melanie Moore was about average height, _extremely _tiny-waisted like her sister, but she had a black and purple corset mini dress on. She had pale skin that even seemed to glow a little bit, how the frack does _that _happen?

As Molly talked on and on about how her eldest was a model, I noticed her very model-like tendency to land in a pose, not to mention her lack of a real smile on her face.

"Melanie does fashion modeling for her designer friends at school; right now, she's getting paid to do ads for the paper." She bragged.

"Really?"

"Oh yes!" suddenly we heard a loud clatter outside, "Oh dear, the Grill Master is burning the chicken, just go sit down-Judy, baby, show her will you?"

Dex nodded as she and Melanie showed me where to sit; I asked,

"Grill Master?"

"Dad has a certain obsession with grilled food; more specifically, using any opportunity to shove his head over a flaming metal instrument of torture that smells like meat."

"Ah, I see."

"Alright!" We turned to see Dex's tall, oddly Emmett-Cullen-looking father come in with a big tray of fried chicken, "Dinner is served."

He took one look at me, then turned to his wife in a joking manner, "Okay, I'm pretty sure I only have two children."

She laughed, "Jamesw, this is Katy, the friend from school."

"Oh!" He smiled, placing multiple pieces of chicken on my plate, "Well, new guest gets the first serving. Bon appetite."

* * *

><p>So we sat down to a high cholesterol-I mean, quality dinner, which most of us scarfed down except for Dex who picked and prodded at it.<p>

"So Katy, Judy tells us you're adopted?"

"Smooth Ma."Dex groaned slightly.

"Now, now." James said, "We're just curious, it's not a crime. Is that true Katy?"

I nodded, "Just recently, actually."

"What are your parents names? I mean, your adoptive parents, I thought the name sounded familiar."

"Damon Salvatore, he's unmarried."

"Oh Damon Salvatore!" Molly exclaimed, "I know him, remember honey, Sheriff Forbes introduced us at the kickoff remember?"

James seemed somewhat less enthusiastic, but replied he had.

"Mom may I be excused?" Melanie asked.

"Go ahead dear." She turned to Dex, "Judy, please finish your dinner."

"I'm full Ma."

Before I got caught up in any possible argument, I excused myself to use the ladies' room. I walked up the wood door, waiting for Melanie to come out. But I started to hear yacking from inside, and I didn't know what to think so I lightly knocked,

"Melanie? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I heard her weak voice say.

I waited outside awkwardly as I kept hearing her yacking, and then a small spraying sound; after, she opened the door, smiling politely, but looking paler than before.

"Go ahead." She said, walking back to the dining room.

I just looked at her as she walked away, then back at the bathroom, where I saw a bottle of extra strength Lysol spray on the sink.

* * *

><p>Later Damon to pick me up; it had become apparent to me that he was now suffering from what all parents have, what I like to call Desperate Group Parenting (D.G.P.): it's when you go to a friend's house or just out in public, and instantly parents swarm together.<p>

Another symptom is when you're about to leave and they take 7 hours to say goodbye.

In fact, it was about 48 minutes before the parental threeway were satisfied with their farewells and we got into the car where Damon informed me about Stefan's progress.

"Is it just me, or does Stefan seem to freak out at the drop of a hat?" I snapped my fingers, "I bet he would too! So long as there was blood on said hat."

Damon shook his head, barely smirking as he changed the subject, "Your friend's father challenged me to a cook-off next week."

I smiled disbelievingly, "You didn't."

"No one challenges my culinary skills; you've tasted my spaghetti sauce."

"Grill Master vs. the Sauce Master… This should be fun."

Damon smirked, using his free hand to mess up my hair, "So what do you want to do to celebrate?"

And I was about to say, 'No ideas', but then I thought for a moment. It was stupid, and didn't really mean too much at the time, but I asked,

"Can we visit my old house? The one we lived in before they died?

He gave a sort of half smile, "What's the address?"

* * *

><p>"This it?"<p>

I nodded towards the wire fence surround the dusty burnt scrap heap, "Yeah. When I asked the cops to help me get some clothes from here, we arrived to find it on fire. The fire department got cut off in traffic and couldn't save it."

Damon nodded, breaking the lock and opening it for me, I walked to where I remembered the front door was, then started counting my steps.

"Make a left, move to the right, and-" I stopped, "Welcome to the little scrap that was my room."

He looked it over, not very impressed, "What was it like?"

"Small, but comfy." I shrugged, "There was a little oak desk packed in by the window, a bed over there, and a little white nightstand where that piece of lamp is."

"Did you like it here?"

"No better than any other place I've been." I smiled at him, "I just, I guess I wanted to relive old times. After all, I was our last home together."

"Come on, I wanna show you something."

I took one last look before following him off, but as I walked my shoe got caught on something. When I looked down I saw some glinting silver, and as I looked closer, I saw it was my mother's blue rosary beads.

It wasn't the whole necklace, it was only the slightly melted cross and three of the beads, the rest seemed to have melted off. I picked up the small piece, staring at it for a moment.

"What's that?"

I sniffled, shoving the piece into my pocket, "I'll tell you later."

We went back to the car where Damon pulled out a wrapped gift from the trunk.

I smiled taking it from his hands, unwrapping it with impatient glee; when the paper wrapping was off, it revealed a silver/grey backpack with a skull of flowers designed on the big front pocket. I noticed it was quite heavy, so I opened it to see a cellphone box with a number scribbled over the top. I looked even further to see, would you believe it, a pair of white sneakers and a gym uniform.

I began to laugh hysterically, and Damon joined in too, then we got back into the car and headed home.

* * *

><p><em>***Third Person's POV***<em>

Later, when Katy had gone to her room to rest while Damon waited for Elena's return; she did in fact return, but was accompanied by a healthier looking Stefan.

"Little boy lost." He quipped.

She turned to Stefan, "I'll be upstairs, OK?"

"OK."

"Good night, Damon." She said, heading up the stairs.

The brothers stared at each other for a moment, before the youngest spoke up.

"Thank you."

"No, Stefan, thank _you_. You're back on Bambi blood, and I'm the big badass brother again. All is right in the world."

"I mean it. Thank you. For…" he paused, "Helping her take care of me."

"You brood too much." Damon stated, "Everything on this planet is not your fault. My actions, what I do, it's _not _your fault. _I _own them. They belong to _me_. You are not allowed to feel my guilt!"

And Stefan asked very calmly, "Do you feel guilt?"

"If I wanted to, it's there." He shrugged, "Emily waited till after I turned to tell me she'd been successful in protecting Katherine with her spell. She didn't want me to know about the tomb. She thought it would ;impact' my decision."

"She didn't want _either one _of us to turn." He defended, "She said it was a curse."

"Witches… Judgy little things."

Stefan chose not to respond to that, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"'Cause I didn't want you to know." He sneered, "'Cause I hated you and I still do."

"I know."

"But not because you forced me to turn."

He looked confused, "Then why?"

Damon glared, "Because she turned you. It was just supposed to be me, Stefan… _Just me_."

Without a word, Stefan walked up the stairs, hearing a bit of laughter coming from Katy's room. He knocked lightly on the open door, seeing Elena and Katy happily examining her new backpack-which Katy had realized had a pocket perfect for her switchblade. The girls looked up as he entered; the elder girl skipping over to greet him.

"How are ya Stef?"

"Better." He turned to Elena, "Can you go wait in my room for a minute?"

She looked between the two, finally setting a parting smile on Katy, "Goodnight."

"Night."

They waited for Elena to leave before finally speaking.

"Hey."

"Hi."

Stefan cleared his throat, "So, uh, we don't talk much."

"Nope."

Trying to break the tension, he tried a half smile as he said, "Usually, I'm trying to make Damon send you back to the orphanage."

She nodded jokingly, "Yeah, screw you too Stefan."

He laughed, "I just mean, I've been trying to convince him for your own safety."

"Well keep in mind, I'm not slouch myself, and if I wanted I could kick your ass."

"I'm _sure _you could." He sighed, "But Katy; has Damon talked to you about the possibility of turning?"

"He said when I was older, and I really wanted, he wouldn't say no."

"Alright but Katy, you shouldn't be pressured-"

"He didn't, and I not."

"Katy, please take this seriously."

"I am."

"Then listen." He paused again, "When the option of immortality was given, me and Damon made some really fatal mistakes. You may know how Damon can be, but you don't know how much _I'm _capable of-worse than Damon. Even after a century, I have constant temptation, and you need to understand how much danger you're potentially in whilst you live here."

"I know, I'm aware you and Bert are a questionable pair-you have no idea. But let's be honest no family is stable."

"How many families put a child in the path of dangerous killer vampires?"

"My biological parents." She pointed out, "And just because I'm below 18 doesn't mean I'm 5. _I'm _choosing to stay here _because _I can comprehend what I've been told, what I see, and how I feel. I understand you want to be responsible and wise, but I've thought about it, and I've decided to stay. You just need to accept that, okay?"

Stefan paused yet again, not really knowing what to say or how to say it. So he just nodded, heading for his room.

"Goodnight Katy."

"Night." She smiled.

* * *

><p><em>***Next Morning***<em>

"I'm supposed to help build the Miss Mystic float for the Founder's Day Parade. If I don't, I get the wrath of Caroline but I wanted to check in first."

"Well, I doing great, thanks for asking." Damon smirked into his phone.

"Checking on _Stefan_."

"Oh, him? Oh, he's…" He paused, still smirking, "He's terrible."

"What's the matter?"

"He's just back to boring, straight-laced, off the junk. You've successfully cured him of anything that was interesting about his personality."

"Don't forget who helped me."

"I hate myself." He smirked, "Did Uncle John mention anything to you about my field trip with the history teacher?"

"No. I've still been avoiding him." She said, "Why? What's he up to?"

"I don't know." He started to get flirty, "But I'd _love _if you could find out for me."

Elena dodged the suggestion, "Remember, you've got to bring Katy over to the school at 3 o'clock sharp. I'm giving you today, but she _needs_ to be fitted for her costume."

"Yes, I know, I've got the chloroform ready and set to go."

"I mean it Damon, don't be late. This extra credit could keep her from getting suspended, and I for one _care _about Katy getting an education."

"Then educate me right now; how do you plan to make Katy dress in a southern belle school girl gown for a float in which she is forced to be pleasant and smile like she's having fun?"

"I'll borrow your chloroform, easy." She said, then stated firmly, "Remember, _3 o'clock_."

"Alright Mommy."

She groaned, "I've got to go I'm late."

"Have fun with the Mystic Queen, I know _I_ did."

Elena hung up as Damon walked towards Stefan, handing him back his phone.

"Elena called." He smiled, walking downstairs where Katy and Toby Marshall sat.

* * *

><p><em>***A Few Minutes Later***<em>

Damon had convinced Toby to let them all sign outside, saying 'the morning light was _just _what they needed'-Katy had a fun time holding back laughter.

"Alright, everything is set." Toby said as Damon signed the last paper, shaking his hand after, "Congratulations Mr. Salvatore. You'll probably hear from Social Services in a month or so; just to check in on things."

Damon smiled, "Thank you."

He nodded, walking off with the papers, "Pleasure to meet you Katy."

"You too." She waved.

When the lawyer was gone, Katy stepped inside the house, turning back to the others patiently waiting on the doorstep,

"Damon, please come in."

He smirked, tousling her hair as he entered. She turned to Stefan with a jokingly unsure look, "I don't know Stef, you're not the _best_ example of mental health."

He gave her a look, "Katy."

"I'm just saying, quite frankly, you live twelve steps down the hall."

Stefan shifted awkwardly, clearing his throat, "Look if you don't feel safe, I understand-"

"Oh for the love of God! I was kidding! Get in!"

"But Katy-"

"Fine." She started in a dramatic voice, "Stefan, I cordially invite your brooding ass in… Fancy enough for ya."

Katy clapped her hands together briefly as Stefan walked in, "Alright, I'm heading over to Dex's, see you losers later."

* * *

><p><em>***Katy's POV***<em>

_So its official, _I thought, _I am now Katy Weston-Salvatore… No! Weston, definitely Weston!_

_Will things be different? _I wondered, _I mean, besides me living with two Italian vampires who shared a girlfriend twice but freak out over a used towel? Probably not._

Just then, I was passing by Mystic Falls High, where I caught sight of Jeremy. He seemed to take notice of me and waved; I smiled and waved back at him.

_Jeremy's a great buddy. He's like a big teddy bear that makes you feel so comfortable and you just wanna hold him all night and-WOW! Where did that come from? I don't do that with my teddy bear!_

Get your head out of the gutter it wasn't that bad.

_Well that's different, _I thought, _what's the deal?_

I cringed at my next conclusion and sped along my way, _I'll just hang out with Dex for a while, we'll talk about nothing, and I'll forget easy-peasy._

I comforted myself with that thought, and then busied myself with trying to remember her address.

When I got to her house, I almost left when I saw the care was gone, but I looked at the window of the second floor to see Dex. Even from the distance I could see her head lolling back and forth lazily as she seemed to be crushing something.

I wasn't ready for this; I'd seen her high a lot, or at least a little strung out, but after the drama with Joelle and me I didn't know what to say.

I'm not proud of this, but I did what a lot of kids my age would do, I turned tail and ran like a little bitch.

* * *

><p><em>***Third Person's POV***<em>

"Damon." Alaric greeted, "Thank you for coming."

"Sorry I'm late. Dog ate my uh… Nevermind." He smirked, then looked around the classroom at Stefan and Elena, "What's with all the furrowed brows?"

"I saw Isobel last night."

"Isobel is here?" Alaric nodded, "In town?"

* * *

><p><em>***Mystic Grill***<em>

"Katy, we need to tell her parents." Joelle said.

"No," she insisted, "We don't know what will happen."

"She'll get help!"

Katy cast a nervous look on her plate, "But, she'll hate us. She'll never trust us, and we were making progress."

"Clearly not." Joelle sighed, "Even if she never talks to us; at least she'll be in better hands of trained professionals."

She knew she was right, but at the same time, a part of Katy didn't like it.

* * *

><p><em>***Next Day: Isobel's House***<em>

"Oh, oh Cherie, you won again." Damon smirked, standing up, "I hope I'm wearing my good underwear."

Just then Isobel walked in as he removed his belt, "And it's just one blast from the past after another-No, no, no." He reluctantly closed his fly, and put his shirt back on; she turned to her minion, "Degage Cherie."

Damon smirked to her as she left the room, "It's good to see you, Isobel. I was just having fun with your naughty little minion."

"How did you find me?"

"Searched for the neighborhood bank owned foreclosures and found the most expensive one."

"Oh, I should have known. _You're_ the one who taught me that." Her smirk decreased, "What are you _really_ doing here?"

"Well you caused quite a stir; you blew into town, saw _everyone _except for the man who made you." He gave a pouty look, "I'm a little hurt."

"I'm so sorry." She said wrapping her arms around him, then twisting his neck, "Did you bring the device?"

He laughed slightly, "Ow." She let him go, "What are you doing with John Gilbert?"

"We dated a few times when we were young." She said, "He was a little bit in love with me."

"I'm sure; one of the many." He walked closer, "Now, this little invention, what do you want with it?"

"Oh, me personally? I don't want anything with it. I'm just doing what I'm told." She got closer to Damon, as if leaning in for a kiss, "You know Damon we're on the same side."

He smirked, taking her chin between his index finger and his thumb, "Oh yeah? What side is that?"

"Katherine's." He stopped short, "She wants John Gilbert to have the device and I think that you know that she's not happy when she doesn't get what she wants."

Damon threw her off, "Why are you doing her dirty work?"

"Don't kill the messenger. We both know you can't control Katherine. She does what she wants."

"So do I."

"Oh really Damon? You do? What should we do now?"

They got closer to each other again, and began to laugh, "Oh yeah, if memory serves." Isobel said before they began to kiss passionately. This continued for a minute before Damon slammed Isobel on the ground.

"Now that I have your attention, listen up. You do not come into _my _town; threaten the people I care about. Going after Elena? _Bad move_. You leave her alone or I will rip you to bits because I do believe in killing the messenger. You know why? _Because it sends a message_."

He slammed Isobel's head against the ground for good measure, she cried out as he said, "Katherine wants something from me? You tell that little _bitch _to come get it herself."

And with that he let her go and sped out of the house.

* * *

><p><em>***Few Hours Later***<em>

"Can't I pick up trash on the highway like everyone else?" Katy asked.

"Girlie, don't go complaining, this is the easiest extra credit ever! All you have to do is wear a dress for a few hours, that's it!" He said, trying to sound encouraging.

She groaned, following him inside the school. Once she was taken by one of the costume women there, he waited patiently outside for her.

As he waited, he suddenly got a text from Ric: _She got Jeremy_.

Damon felt a rush of panic and anger go through him as he went and started searching for Katy. He listened and found her being forced into a car by Frank, the other minion. He growled, speeding over biting the guy's neck and then snapping it.

Once he was sure the guy was dead, he reached in the car for Katy, hugging and holding her close to him. He calmed down as he felt her hug him back, but began to growl at the thought of Isobel defying him.

They needed a plan.

* * *

><p>That plan came in the form of Bonnie.<p>

"Absolutely no!"

"Just hear me out." Elena begged Damon.

"I'm not gonna give the device to Isobel so she can give it to John who is gonna turn it to kill me. I like being a living dead person."

"But it'll be useless." She pointed out, "Bonnie can take its power away."

"I don't trust her."

"Damon, please." Katy begged; he only gave her a look that told her to shut up.

"I can remove the original spell."

Elena waved her arms up as if to say, 'I told ya!', "John will never know."

"No," he looked between Katy and Elena, "I'll get Jeremy in my own way."

"Really? How are you going to do that?" Stefan asked rhetorically, "Because Isobel is a vampire and Jeremy could be dead the second you walk in the door."

Damon turned to Katy, about to point out he'd saved her; she gave him a pleading look, which slightly softened his expression as he turned back to Bonnie, "Are you even up for this? I mean no offense, you're no Emily Bennett. Emily knew what she was doing."

"I've been practicing."

"It's not piano lessons, honey." He glared.

She slowly walked up to him, "What's your favorite book?"

"What?"

"Name a book." She ordered, "_Any_ book."

"Name a book…" He thought for a minute, "How about, 'Call of the Wild', Jack London?"

Bonnie turned to the bookshelf, concentrating for a minute before a book flew out and landed on Damon's hand.

He looked briefly at the title, smirking, "Jack London." He threw it aside, "Great parlor trick."

"We're doing this, Damon. And we're doing it my way. Now give me the device." He didn't move, "We're wasting time!"

"I don't trust you." He told Bonnie, "I tried to kill you."

"You're right; you can't trust me."

"But you can trust _me_." Elena pleaded.

Damon looked at her for a moment, slowly pulling the device from his pocket and placing it in her hand-his lingering a bit. Stefan looked suspiciously between them as she whispered,

"Thank you."

* * *

><p>Bonnie began the ritual soon after; the device slowly floating up from the table, the lights flickering as the fire blazed hotter than before.<p>

Katy stood in place watching, until she felt her phone vibrate; she checked the caller ID to see she was getting a call from Joelle. She walked into the next room to answer;

"Hey, what's up?"

Joelle seemed to have been crying, "I'm sorry Katy, I couldn't help it."

"What? _What did you do?_"

"I told, I told my parents, and they told Dex's parents."

Katy raked a hand through her hair, "You what-Why would you do that?!" she whispered.

"I was trying to help. It was a nightmare, mom and dad were yelling at them, and then she yelled at her parents until they put her in the car and drove her off." She cried, "I didn't mean to do anything wrong!"

"I told you not to tell!" she hissed.

"Well what were _you_ doing?! I did the _right _thing! I told someone!"

Katy let out a small yell, throwing the phone on the couch and slumping down. Damon entered, a look of concern all over his face.

"Stay inside." He said, slowly walking out, "We'll talk later."

* * *

><p><em>***Katy's POV***<em>

Later, Damon texted me the peaceful resolution; so I headed over to the Gilberts. Jenna was happy to see me and directed me upstairs, where I heard an argument between Elena and Jeremy as I walked up the stairs.

By the time I got up the stairs, I heard a door slam inside the room, and then silence. I knocked lightly on Jeremy's door.

"Go away Elena!"

"Jer? It's me, Katy."

He opened the door a second later, a slightly annoyed look on his face, "Did Elena send you?"

I shook my head, "I heard Isobel got ya. I wanted to check on you."

"I'm fine." He said, starting to close the door.

"Can I hang here for a little bit?" I asked, "It's just been a lousy day, and I don't wanna think about it."

He nodded understandingly, "Come in."

* * *

><p>"So that's the last thing your mom gave to you?" He asked as he examined my cross.<p>

"Yeah." I tried to take it back, but it was so small it fell through Jer's fingers; luckily he caught it again, "I really need to find a chain for it."

"Hmm." He said, looking at it, then closed his fingers around it as he took one of his sneakers off the ground and untied the lace.

Once he separated the lace from the shoe, he knotted the ends together with the cross, and then put the make-shift necklace over my head.

I felt a smile and a blush form on my face as I thought to myself: _Okay! That's it! I like him! And it must be a lot too if I'm willing to wear a _boy's _shoelace around my neck… Actually, now that I think about it, I wanna take a shower._

"There, no problem." He smiled.

I smiled back and gave him a hug, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." His arms tightening just a little bit around me.

It took a full minute afterwards to realize we were still hugging. I cleared my throat and stood up.

"Well, goodnight."

"See you tomorrow." He said as I walked out.

I went down the driveway to see Elena getting something from her car; she smiled when she saw me,

"Hey, are you okay?"

I nodded, "Fine, but I could use a ride home."

"No problem, hop in."

We drove around for a little while; Elena was rather quiet and more focused on the road that anything else. I figured it had something to do with Isobel, so I asked how she was feeling,

"I don't know. Confused, I guess."

I gave her a sympathetic smile, "Unfamiliar feeling huh?

She shrugged, "A little."

We finally made it to the house, and she asked as we walked up to the door, "Hey, while I'm here, do you mind if I get some of my stuff?"

I nodded, "Sure, come on in."

I opened the door, and just as we stepped inside, we heard talking in the next room. I turned back to her as she said, "Maybe I should come tomorrow instead."

We nodded in agreement then said goodbye.

* * *

><p><em>***Third Person's POV***<em>

She closed the door behind her, smirking as she dialed her phone.

"Isobel." She said, "Update?"

* * *

><p><em>***Next Morning***<em>

On the day of the parade, Carol Lockwood was driving everyone insane, ordering them around. Stefan, fully dressed in his clothes from 1864, walked aimlessly until Damon walked up to him.

"Look at you all retro."

"What are you doing here?"

"Why wouldn't I be here? Bonnie deactivated the Gilbert invention, adoption papers are signed, Isobel is gone and it's Founder's Day!" He clapped a hand on his brother's shoulder, "I'm here to eat cotton candy and steal your girl."

"Don't start with me, Damon."

"Oh, _you _started this Stefan with that whole-" He began to mimic him, "'I'm insecure, leave Elena alone' speech. I'm enjoying that"

"As long as you heard it."

"Wait, huh? What?" He stopped his brief deaf charade with a laugh, "You have no sense of humor, Stefan."

"Actually I've no sense of 'Damon humor'." He said, starting to walk away.

Damon muttered the phrase to himself, then went back to Stefan, "Hey look, I get it, I get it. I'm the better, hotter, superior choice and you're scared now that Katherine is out of the picture, that I'm gonna turn all my attention to Elena. But don't worry, Elena is _not_ Katherine."

Stefan nodded, "You're right, she's not."

But then they turned to see a curly haired, period-dressed Elena.

Irony bites.

* * *

><p>After that blast from the past; Damon walked over to where Jeremy and Katy were talking, both of whom were dressed in period clothing. However, unlike Elena, Katy's gown had a bonnet and were more of a school uniform.<p>

Jeremy was smiling and laughing, until he saw Damon coming. He stood up and started off,

"See ya Kate."

Damon gave a weird look between him and Katy, "Kate." He said, "Weird nickname."

"Still better then Katherine." She shrugged.

"Aside from the one _we_ told you about, why do you hate the name?"

"I don't have a lot of Katherines to look up to." She explained, "The grandmother I'm named for was a crotchety old bitch, and your bitch doesn't help either."

"What about Katherine the Great?"

"You mean the woman who did it with a horse?"

"Alright, Katherine of Aragon?"

"No one remembers her."

"Katherine Howard?"

She gave him a look, "I rest my case."

He laughed, grabbing her hand and spinning her around, "Well, whatever your name is, you look great."

Katy tried to hold back a smile, "It's not bad. Could do without the layers in 100 degree weather, but yeah."

"Well you did it anyway."

"Just trying to stay in school," she shrugged, "keep my nose clean."

"Well, I for one am proud of your attempt, however forced it may be." He smiled, wrapping an arm around her, "Come on, let's get you to your confetti filled pumpkin."

Katy laughed as they walked arm in arm, then she saw Elena up ahead waiting for her, so she said goodbye and ran towards Elena.

Damon watched as they walked off together to the float, smirking when Elena looked over her shoulder at him.

* * *

><p>"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our stunning Miss Mystic Falls Court and their handsome escorts." Mrs. Lockwood announced as the float went by, "This is Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls!"<p>

Everyone on the float was smiling and waving at the crowd, especially Caroline of course. Elena saw Bonnie in the crowd and waved to her, along with Stefan, that is before Damon stepped in front and waved himself.

He turned to look at her as she asked, "What do you want?"

"Just watching the parade." He replied, turning to the next float which she soon noticed had Katy on it.

"Mystic Falls Junior High School presents 'Students Through The Years'!"

The float had middle school kids in boy/girl pairs, dressed in school uniforms from each decade. At the top of the float was Katy and her partner dressed in 1860's garb; Katy saw Damon in the crowd and began grinning and waving at him, he waved back and then noticed Bonnie starting to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"Away from you."

"I wanna say something to you."

"Just leave me alone!"

"Thank you." She looked shocked for a moment, and then reverted back to her cold look; he continued, "The device that Emily spelled could have killed me. I don't take what you did lightly so… Thank you."

Her expression didn't change, "I did it for Elena."

"I know that, but I'm still very grateful. And… I owe you."

No response, "Enjoy the parade."

* * *

><p>Later, Damon took Katy over to the Grill for dinner; during their wait for a table, Damon saw Elena walking in, so he went to greet her.<p>

"I like you better like this." He referred to her casual clothes, "The period look, it… Didn't suit you."

She blinked her eyes in surprised, "Is that an insult?"

"Actually Elena, it's a compliment of the highest order." He smiled.

"Look, I know Stefan is worried about our… Friendship."

"Did he mention something to you too?"

"No, did he mention something to you?"

"No, nothing worth repeating."

She sighed, "So, I think you should stop with the flirty little comments and that eye-thing that you do."

"What eye thing?" He asked, purposely doing it.

"Don't make me regret being your friend okay?"

* * *

><p>After her brief chat with Jeremy, if you could call it that, Elena walked over to where Katy was seated.<p>

"Hey."

"Hey sweetie." She said, hugging the preteen, "You looked great out there."

"You did too." Katy said, "Thanks for helping me."

"No problem, just beware, it'll be ten times worse when you go to prom." Katy let out a short sarcastic scream, which Elena laughed at, "Hey, where's Dex, doesn't she live around here?"

Katy looked down at her feet, "She's not in town."

"Why what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Katy." Elena pleaded, sitting closer, "Please, talk to me."

* * *

><p><em>***Katy's POV***<em>

So I told her everything, about Dex and Joelle; as usual it felt great, getting it off my chest however, I expected the inevitable lecture at the end.

"Go ahead, tell me I was wrong." I said, "Tell me Joelle did the right thing."

Elena gave me a sympathetic smile, "No Katy. While it is better to tell someone, it's much harder to do then we think. I did the same with Jeremy."

"But-" I cleared my throat, "You're always so… You just seem to know what to do most of the time."

"Katy, this is hard, whether you know what to do or not." She said, wrapping her arms around me in a comforting manner, "I know I can get a little preachy, but it's because I care. All I see here is a girl who cares just as much, and maybe more. But caring take a little practice."

I half smiled, "Thanks M-Elena."

We hugged another moment or two before she pulled away, "Why don't you hang out with me and Stefan for a while? Take your mind off things."

"I don't wanna intrude-"

"Don't worry, he won't mind." She smiled, "We'd be happy to have you accompany us."

* * *

><p>Later the three of us walked along, laughing and joking around with each other. Elena was right, Stefan was happy to have me there, but I still couldn't help but feel like I was intruding on their time together.<p>

I mean, after you've spent days in a cellar and getting over homicidal tendencies, what's the first thing you want to do? I highly doubt it's cheer up a 13 year old girl.

_But doesn't this mean I'm his niece technically? _I wondered.

Soon enough though, Damon showed up, grabbing both Elena's hand and mine.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Saving your life. Fifteen words or less: Tomb vamps are here, Founding Families are their target." He let go of her hand, but kept hold of mine, saying to Stefan as he dragged me off, "Get her out of here, now!"

"Wait, where are you going?"

"That's more than fifteen words, Stefan."

"Where _are_ we going?"

"I'm taking you to Ric, he'll protect you." I groaned, "You're a Founding Family member now girlie. you're not getting off the hook this time."

We soon came across Ric, who had a bag of weapons in his hands.

"Hey, you've got everything?"

"Just about. Where's this going down?"

"Everywhere." Damon replied, looking off in one direction, then turned back to us, "Get her someplace safe first, she's a target now."

Then he ran off.

* * *

><p>Alaric and I wondered around, cautiously with our weapons at our sides. His weapon being a stake and mine my vervain blade.<p>

But soon we looked around and saw a lot of people seemed to be having seizures, it was like a quarantine area, they were getting picked out by police and injected.

I realized it was all vampires and we both ran around looking for anyone we knew. We came by Stefan who was being comforted by Elena as he head in head in pain.

I ran ahead while Ric distracted the cop coming towards them, then he followed me.

"I don't know what happened, he just dropped."

"Yeah, he's not the only one." Ric said, helping us move Stefan, "The cops have gotten everyone who's gone down, injecting them with vervain."

"What?" But she paused, realizing, "They're rounding up the vampires."

I gulped, not bothering to stick around, running off to find Damon. I couldn't find him anywhere I looked and I was getting very frightened, until I heard Jeremy's voice.

"Katy!" He said, running up to me, looking just as frightened as I was, "They took Anna!"

"I can't find Damon!"

"Come on, let's go find them." He said, taking my hand and running off.

* * *

><p>"Where could they be?" I yelled, "They could be dead by now!"<p>

"We'll split up." He said, "You go left, I'll take right."

We nodded briefly to each other before racing into both directions. I turned a corner and saw Elena standing outside a building with Bonnie. I saw a distressed look on Elena's face, and figuring this was my best bet I ran towards them.

As I did, I saw Stefan burst out of the building with a very weak looking Damon. I ran faster, giving a glare to Bonnie as I flew by her, then checked to make sure Damon was okay.

* * *

><p><em>***Third Person's POV***<em>

The building was saved, the victims inside it were another story. They told the people it was wiring, and nothing more.

After Stefan spoke to Elena for a while, he walked out of the Grill to see Bonnie coming towards him.

"Oh, hey."

"Hey."

"You, uh, you just missed Elena."

"I was looking for you actually."

His interest peeked, "Oh."

"Elena is my best friend, and because she loves you, I couldn't let you or Damon die in that fire."

"I'm very grateful Bonnie, I hope you know that."

"I do." She assured, "But I hope you know that things have to change. _Damon has to change_."

"We both want the same thing."

"We both want to protect the people we care about. The difference is, for you, Damon is one of them. You _saw_ what I was able to do tonight." she warned, "I know who I am now, and if Damon spills so much as one _drop _of innocent blood, I'll take him down. Even if I have to take you with him."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"Let's hope it doesn't."

* * *

><p>Back at the Gilbert house, Elena came back, her bags filling her hands. When she got up the steps she saw Damon coming out of the house.<p>

"What are you doing here?"

"Failed and feeble attempt at doing the right thing."

"Which was?"

He shook his head, "It's not important. Let me take this for you."

He took her things and gently set them aside.

"Thank you."

Damon awkwardly stepped closer, "You know, I came to this town wanting to destroy it. Tonight, I found myself wanting to protect it." He let out a sigh, "How does that happen? I'm not a hero, Elena. I don't do good. It's not in me."

"Maybe it is."

"Nah, it's reserved for my brother, my-" he smiled a little, shaking his head, "my daughter, and you... And Bonnie, who, even though she has every reason to hate me, still helped Stefan save me."

Elena tilted her head, "Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Because she did it for you." He said, now barely an inch away from her, "Which means that somewhere along the way, you decided that I was worth saving. And, I wanted to, thank you for that."

She took in a small breath, "You're welcome."

He leaned in closer, kissing her cheek; but as he pulled away, they locked eyes, slowly getting even closer than before until finally they were touching lips. They kissed slowly and steadily for another few seconds before Jenna opened the door, shocked by the sight.

"Hi." Elena whispered.

Jenna's face turned cold, "It's late, you should probably come inside."

She nodded to her, gathered her things, and walked inside. Damon briefly touched his lips as he walked towards his car, where Katy sat in front, looking very somber.

When he got in the driver's side, he noticed her expression; he snapped his fingers in front of her face making her come back to reality.

Katy turned to him, a small tear streak dried up on the side of her face. Damon gave her a sympathetic smile as he hugged her tightly.

"That was a really stupid move; coming after me with _Jeremy_."

She laughed, though it was slightly muffled, "Yeah, kinda."

He smiled, pulling away to look at her as he held her face in his hands, "I'm proud of you."

"You already said that."

"it's worth repeating." He smirked, but then he genuinely smiled, "I love you girlie."

Katy grinned, showing all her teeth and accenting her deeply dimpled cheeks, "I love you too, Dad."

They hugged again, even tighter then before.

"'Pine! 'Pine!" Her muffled voice said.

He pulled away, "Sorry." He turned on the ignition, smirking at her, "Katherine Hepburn."

She thought for a moment, "Greatest actress of all time?... I can live with that."

They laughed driving home.

* * *

><p>"Can I help?" John asked, referring to the dishes.<p>

She looked at his hand briefly, "Sure." then took a knife and sliced his fingers off.

John howled in pain as she pushed him up against the sink, "Katherine?!"

Her eyes turned red and veins appeared on her smirking face, "Hello, John. _Goodbye_, John."

Then she stabbed him.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you all enjoyed that. Keep reviewing and please tell your friends! I love ya'lls! :D<strong>


	27. Preview Update: Season 2

Katy Weston Preview, minor spoilers, and date of release published on another story, check my profile for the new story.


	28. Author Note

Hey guys sorry, a lot of shit has happened recently and I'll update when I can but life drama and work are getting in the way. I'm sorry for being so bad at updating on time but you wouldn't believe the crap my family and friends and I have been through lately.

I'll probably update here and there slowly, but I can't stick to regular updating until things calm down and my brain isn't crowded.

Thank you for your understanding, I hope you enjoy my stories. Keep reviewing, I invite all thoughts and criticisms (just please be constructive and respectful, that's all I ask). I use fanfiction as a practice method since writing is one of the things I plan to do with my life.

I plan to be a singer/dancer/actress/writer/comedian, I'd say I'm halfway to comedian since people tend to laugh awkwardly when I tell them that lol.

Hope you're all having great lives and enjoying all stories on this site (not just mine). For OUAT fans, there is this girl I've been working with on her currently published Peter Pan/OC story, it's called "The Game" by Missmadisonb27. She is a great writer and I highly suggest her story to anyone who loves Robbie Kay's portrayal of the classic character of Peter Pan.

And as a side note, I'll be publishing the first chapter of a OUAT story about two fangirls who go into the world of the TV show. These kinds of stories have tended to piss me off since they don't generally add anything with characters (not all, but a fair amount that I've seen, if you know a good one please suggest it to me), but I;m working to make Addie Clark and Bunny Harrison unique mains who will serve to F*** up the fabric of TV reality real nice for ya :D

Love you all, I thank you all for your support.

I've recently come across a recently passed (God rest his soul) writer named Thomas Tafero, look up some of his work, I was lucky enough to see his work as the director of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" live. I believe the title of one of his original works is "Liars & Lovers" a play surrounding the lives of college age students.

Check him out, he's incredibly talented, and it broke my heart when I learned of his death, please keep this great writer alive in the hearts and minds of the people by his fantastic works.

:D Thanks


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